HISTORY 

AND 

REMINISCENCES 


Old  Settlers'  Union 
of  Princevilie 
and  Vicinity 


J^EGORDS  OF 

1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 


VOLLME  I 


LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


977.352 

Oflh 
V.   1 


:ilinois  Historical  Sixrvey 


■-,/■,;     ^■■•—  »Wx 


tIBRARY 

UNIVERSITy  Of  ILLINOId 

URBANA 


The  Founder  of  Princeville 
1797-1887 


HISTORY 

AND 

REMINISCENCES 


FROM  THB  RECORDS  OF 

OLD  SETTLERS'  UNION 

OF  PRINCEVILLE 

AND  VICINITY 


Material  comprised  in 

Reports  of  Committees  on  History  and    Reminiscences 

for  years  1906,  1907,  1908,  1909,  1910 


Published  under  the  auspices  of 

Old  Settlers'  Union  of  Princeville  and  Vicinity 

August.  1912 


S.  S.  SLANE 
PETER  AUTEN 

Publishing  Committee 


^-r<].? 


X  f1  C 


V. 


THE  OLD  SETTLERS'  UNION  OF  PRINCEVILLE 

AND  VICINITY. 


Organized  August  22,  1906,  and  first  picnic  held 
September  19,  of  same  year,  in  "Log  Cabin  Grove"  of 
Charles  F.  Cutter,  who  had  been  prime  mover  in  the 
organization. 

Object,  ''To  perpetuate  the  memories  of  pioneer 
days,  foster  a  reverence  for  our  forefathers,  and 
encourage  the  spirit  of  fellowship  and  hospitality." 

Annual  picnic  and  reunion  last  Thursday  in  August, 
unless  changed  by  Executive  Committee. 

Eligible  to  membership :  Any  person  21  years  of 
age,  having  resided  within  the  State  of  Illinois  one 
year;  dues,  $1.00  per  year. 

Townships  included  :  Princeville,  Akron,  Millbrook, 
Jubilee,  Hallock  and  Radnor  in  Peoria  County;  Essex, 
Valley  and  West  Jersey  in  Stark  County;  Truro  in 
Knox  County;  and  La  Prairie  in  Marshall  County. 

Committees  on  History  and  Reminiscences : 

1906 :     S.  S.  Slane,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Merritt,  Edward  Auten. 

1907  :     Edward  Auten,  Hannah  G.  Ilutchins,  F.  B.  Blan- 
chard. 

1908 :     Edward  Auten,  Rose  C.  Armstrong,  H.  J.  Chees- 
man. 

1909 :     Edward  Auten,  L.  L.  Stewart,  W.  H.  Adams. 

1910 :     S.  S.  Slane,  W.  H.  Adams. 


INTRODUCTION 


This  book  is  a  reproduction,  with  a  few  corrections 
and  additions,  of  the  various  sketches  as  transmitted  by 
the  respective  Committees  to  the  Union  each  year,  and 
the  sketches  are  given  here  in  the  same  order  as  trans- 
mitted to  the  Union,  the  year  of  writing  being  indi- 
cated on  each  sketch. 

Each  of  the  Eeminiscence  Committees  has  realized 
that  the  families  named  in  its  sketches  are  but  a  few 
taken  from  among  the  many  families  worthy  the  pen 
of  a  historian ;  and  the  Publishing  Committee  likewise 
realizes  that  this  booklet  contains  but  a  part  of  the 
families  that  should  be  noted.  The  Committee  there- 
fore hopes  that  the  publication  of  this  volume  will  be 
an  incentive  to  the  writing  of  additional  family 
sketches,  and  bespeaks  the  preparation  of  such  sketches 
by  families  interested,  for  future  Reminiscence  Com- 
mittees, which  may  in  due  time  be  published  in  another 
volume  similar  to  this  one. 

Besides  the  copies  of  this  booklet  subscribed  in 
advance  of  publication,  the  committee  has  a  limited 
number  of  copies  still  on  hand  for  sale  at  cost :  35  cents 
per  copy  postpaid;  30  cents,  carriage  not  prepaid. 


DANIEL  PRINCE. 
By  Mrs.  J.  E.  Merritt,  1906. 


As  near  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn,  Daniel  Prince 
of  Indiana  was  the  first  white  man  to  settle  at  the 
Grove.  He  came  to  this  locality  in  1821  and  started  his 
home  on  the  South  side  of  the  grove,  on  the  land  now 
belonging  to  Mr.  S.  S.  Slane.  His  cabin  was  built  after 
the  style  of  Mr.  Cutter's,  save  that  it  had  no  glass 
windows,  no  upper  story,  and  had  a  hole  in  the  side 
for  a  door. 

Here  Mr.  Prince  lived  for  many  years  among  the 
w41d  men  of  the  forest  with  no  companion  save  his 
faithful  Thomas,  concerning  whom  many  interesting 
anecdotes  are  related.  He  early  made  friends  with  the 
red  men,  and  when  the  Black  Hawk  War  broke  out  in 
1832,  unlike  the  other  early  settlers  he  did  not  go  into 
the  Fort  at  Peoria,  but  remained  on  his  farm  and  was 
unmolested. 

About  the  year  1833,  becoming  tired  of  his  lonely 
existence,  he  married  Miss  Betty  Morrow,  aunt  to  our 
well  known  fellow  citizen,  Mr.  Hugh  Morrow.  To  them 
were  born  three  children. 

For  several  years  Mr.  Prince  and  his  wife  remained 
here  improving  their  home  farm.  But  as  others  moved 
in  and  the  neighborhood  began  to  assume  a  more  civi- 
lized aspect,  a  restless  longing  for  the  pioneer  life  he 
so  loved,  impelled  him  in  1839  to  move  to  Southwestern 
Missouri,  a  country  which  at  that  time  was  the  wild, 
unimproved  West.  And  here  I  am  sorry  to  say,  we  lose 
track  of  him,  none  of  his  descendants  having  lived  in 
this  part  of  the  country  for  any  length  of  time.  One 
of  his  sons,  I  am  told,  visited  with  his  relatives,  the 
Morrow's,  a  few  years  ago. 

Many  interesting  and  amusing  stories  are  told  by 
the  old  settlers  who  were  acquainted  with  this  eccentric, 
but  benevolent  man.     Hospitality  was  the  first  law  of 


6  HISTORY    AND   REMINISCENCES 

his  life.  Soon  after  settling  here  he  began  to  raise  a 
nursery.  When  he  set  out  his  own  orchard,  he  planted 
a  row  of  trees  all  along  the  South  and  West  sides  of  his 
farm  which  were  free  for  all.  Travelers  were  invited 
to  help  themselves.  All  from  far  and  near  were  wel- 
come to  the  apples  as  long  as  they  lasted.  The  first 
apple  sauce  the  writer  ever  remembers  of  eating,  was 
made  from  apples  growm  on  these  trees.  It  was  mighty 
nice,  too. 

At  one  time  before  he  had  any  white  neighbors, 
Mr.  Prince  was  bitten  by  a  rattle  snake.  There  w^as 
no  one  to  do  anything  for  him.  He  rapidly  grew  worse. 
The  thought  of  dying  alone  where  prowling  w^olves 
would  come  in  and  devour  his  body,  leaving  nothing  to 
tell  the  story  of  his  tragic  fate,  was  not  a  pleasant  one. 
He  determined,  while  strength  was  still  left  him  to  do 
so,  to  climb  up  on  the  roof  of  his  cabin,  out  of  the  reach 
of  wolves  and  where  some  chance  explorer  or  friendly 
Indian  seeing  his  body  w^ould  give  him  a  decent  burial. 
After  climbing  on  top  of  the  cabin,  he  found  that 
elevating  his  foot  relieved  his  pain.  Thus  he  remained 
until  some  passing  Indians,  seeing  their  white  friend 
in  this  peculiar  position,  stopped  to  make  inquiries.  On 
learning  the  facts  they  took  him  down,  applied  the 
remedies  they  used  for  snake  bites  and  Mr.  Prince  soon 
recovered. 

Mr.  Prince  raised  large  numbers  of  cattle  and  hogs 
on  his  farm.  One  day,  at  a  time  when  he  had  about 
100  yoke  of  oxen,  a  gentleman  stopped  at  the  cabin 
and  wished  to  buy  four  yoke.  Mr.  Prince  replied  that 
he  had  none  to  sell.  ''I  will  give  $500.00  for  four  yoke 
of  oxen."  "I  told  you  I  had  none  to  sell,"  returned 
Mr.  Prince,  and  the  man  was  compelled  to  look  else- 
where for  cattle.  Soon  after  Mr.  Prince  learned  that 
a  family  in  the  neighborhood  was  short  of  provision. 
He  immediately  selected  a  good  beef  from  his  herd, 
butchered  it  and  bountifully  supplied  the  suffering 
family  with  food.  It  was  his  habit,  say  his  early  asso- 
ciates, to  supply  the  poor  in  the  vicinity  with  beef  and 
pork.     An  old  settler  who  was  personally  acquainted 


DANIEL  PRINCE  7 

with,  and  a  near  neighbor  of  Daniel  Prince,  told  me 
that  he  was  as  kind  and  good  a  neighbor  as  one  could 
wish  for,  and  that  no  man  in  early  days  had  done  more 
for  the  people  of  this  place  than  did  he. 

While  making  no  profession  of  religion  himself, 
Mr.  Prince  always  allowed  his  wife  to  throw  out  the 
latch  string  to  any  minister  who  came  along,  and  open 
their  cabin  for  religious  services.  Not  long  since  I 
heard  an  account  of  one  of  these  early  meetings  held 
at  the  Prince  home.  The  house  w^as  at  that  time  a 
double  log  with  entry,  a  large  fire  place  in  one  end, 
a  bed  in  the  other.  In  the  open  space  at  the  foot  of  the 
bed,  stood  the  preacher,  the  congregation  occupying 
the  remaining  space  between  bed  and  fire. 

In  the  midst  of  the  discourse  when  the  minister  had 
waxed  eloquent,  the  cloth  drapery  over  the  door  was 
pushed  aside  and  Mr.  Prince,  who  had  been  detained 
looking  after  his  stock  which  he  never  neglected, 
entered,  clad  in  buckskin  clothes,  quietly  warmed  him- 
self by  the  fire,  for  it  was  cold,  then  gently  rose  up, 
went  to  the  bed,  turned  the  covers  back  and  jumped 
in,  buckskins  and  all,  and  covered  himself  up.  The 
minister,  unheeding  the  interruption,  w^ent  on  with  his 
sermon.  When  he  had  closed  the  meeting  the  neighbors 
returned  to  their  homes,  glad  to  have  had  the  privilege 
of  listening  to  a  gospel  sermon,  and  thanking  Mr.  Prince 
for  his  hospitality,  if  he  did  think  he  could  enjoy  the 
sermon  better  resting  in  bed.  Much  more  of  interest 
might  be  told  concerning  this  kind  and  brave  man  for 
whom  our  grove,  village  and  township  have  been 
named,  but  enough  has  been  said  to  prove  that  the 
founder  of  the  early  settlement  here  was  no  mean 
character,  but  one  who  justly  deserves  our  profound 
respect  and  one  who  should  be  held  in  grateful  remem- 
brance by  all  our  younger  citizens  as  well  as  the  early 
settlers. 


8  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

STEPHEN  FRENCH  AND  FA^illLY. 
Bv  Mrs.  J.  E.  Merritt,  1906. 


The  first  man  to  move  his  family  to  Prince's  Grove 
was  Stephen  French,  v^^ho  came  here  from  Fort  Clark 
in  1828  and  settled  on  the  land  known  as  the  Onias 
Bliss  farm,  now  owned  by  Emanuel  Keller.  He  built  a 
cabin  near  where  the  Onias  Bliss  frame  house  now 
stands.  AYhen  Stephen  was  away  the  wife  Anna  and 
her  little  ones  had  for  company  wild  Indians,  wild 
woods,  wild  wolves  and  wild  cats.  The  original  cabin 
built  by  Mr.  French  stood  until  recent  years  and  is,  I 
suppose,  well  remembered  by  many  present. 

Mr.  French  and  his  wife,  like  Mr.  Prince,  loved 
pioneering,  their  son  Mr.  Dimmick  French,  being  the 
first  white  child  bom  in  Peoria  County.  They  had  no 
pronounced  religious  views  but  were  hospitable  to  all 
denominations  alike.  They  were  very  kind  hearted. 
Mrs.  French  doing  much  in  ministering  to  the  sick, 
and  nursing  wherever  suffering  among  the  early  settlers 
called  her.  At  one  time  there  was  much  sickness  in 
their  neighborhood.  Often  when  the  dav's  work  was 
done,  she  and  Stephen  would  take  their  two  little  ones 
and  go  to  the  sick  neighbor's  where  she  would  spend 
the  night  in  caring  for  the  sick  one,  her  husband  in 
looking  after  the  children.  Mrs.  French  has  often  told 
me  stories  of  their  early  davs  here.  At  one  time  she 
invited  the  Indian  women  in  the  Grove  to  take  supper 
with  her.  She  set  her  table  as  if  for  white  guests. 
When  the  red  women  were  seated  they  looked  in  aston- 
ishment at  the  knives  and  forks  and  then  at  each  other. 
Then  they  picked  them  up  and  minutely  examined  the 
strange  instruments.  Laying  them  again  carefully  in 
their  places,  the  squaws  fell  to  eating  just  like  monkeys. 

Many  nights  when  Mr.  French  was  away  on  busi- 
ness she  would  look  out  and  see  the  j^ellow  glaring  eyes 
of  the  wolves  prowling  around  the  cabin.  And  they 
were  not  prairie  coyotes  either,  but  tremendous  black 


STEPHEN    FRENCH    AND  FAMILY  9 

and  gray  wolves.  You  may  be  certain  that  Mistress 
Anna  did  not  let  the  children  out  of  doors  on  these 
occasions.  She  had  no  strong  clapboard  doors  fastened 
with  chain  and  padlock,  as  Mr.  Cutter  has,  but. 
depended  for  safety  in  barricading  the  door  of  her 
cabin  where  ordinarily  only  a  quilt  hung,  with  what- 
ever available  means  she  had,  and  in  keeping  a  bright 
fire  constantly  roaring  in  the  huge  fire-place. 

In  this  little  cabin  several  of  the  French  children 
were  born,  IMirandus,  born  March  9,  1832,  being  the 
first  white  child  native  at  Prince's  Grove.  There  were 
eleven  children  in  all,  but  in  1848  some  serious  disease 
developed  among  them  and  in  a  few  Aveeks  five  promis- 
ing children  were  laid  to  rest,  some  of  them  being 
already  grown.  The  family  have  proven  very  short 
lived  as  a  rule.  Several  of  them  died  in  their  twenty- 
eighth  year. 

Captain  John  French  was  the  youngest  boy  of  the 
family.  He  enlisted  in  the  early  days  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  was  in  Sherman's  famous  March  from  Atlanta  to 
the  Sea.  He  fought  in  the  very  last  struggles  on  Cape 
Fear  River,  where  in  March,  1865,  a  cruel  bullet  ended 
his  young  and  promising  life.  This  seems  especially 
sad  as  this  battle  in  which  he  lost  his  life  was  fought 
after  the  surrender  of  Lee  and  after  the  war  was  vir- 
tually ended.  He  died  not  knowing  that  the  cause  for 
which  he  gave  his  life  was  alreadj^  successful,  that 
liberty,  union  and  peace  Avere  triumphant.  To  remember 
Captain  French  is  to  remember  one  of  Princeville's 
most  promising  and  energetic  young  men. 

In  the  year  1857  Mr.  French  bought  a  home  in  the 
Village  of  Princeville  and  they  moved  from  the  little 
cabin  where  they  had  experienced  so  many  sorrows  and 
joys,  to  the  new  home  where  he  and  his  wife  spent  the 
remainder  of  their  days. 

None  of  the  original  members  of  the  family  are  how 
living,  the  name  having  become  extinct.  Of  the  grand- 
children six  are  living.  There  are  sixteen  great-grand- 
children and  two  great  great-grandchildren.  Mr.  French 
was  one  of  the  first  magistrates  elected  in  this  place, 


10  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

and  filled  offices  of  trust  many  times,  and  we  feel  that 
both  Stephen  and  Anna  French  filled  their  places  in 
life  well  and  honorably. 

(Mr.  J.  Z.  Slane  says  that  John  French  was  killed 
before  Lee's  surrender.  He  was  mortally  wounded  on 
March  16,  1865,  and  died  early  next  morning.  Lee 
surrendered  April  9,  1865.) 


THE  WILLIAM  P.  BLANCHARD  FAMILY. 
By  Mrs.  J.  E.  Merritt,  1906. 


The  next  family  that  I  am  to  write  up  is  that  of 
William  P.  and  Mary  Blanchard.  They  did  not  settle 
immediately  at  the  Grove,  but  so  near  that  it  might  be 
termed  in  the  suburbs.  In  the  early  thirties  Mr. 
Blanchard,  finding  his  large  family  in  need  of  a  larger 
scope  for  expansion,  made  an  exploring  expedition  to 
the  West  and  North  of  where  he  was  then  living  in 
Lawrence  County,  Illinois,  to  which  place  they  had 
come  from  Kentucky  in  their  early  married  life.  On 
this  trip  he  visited  Prince's  Grove  and  vicinity.  He 
ventured  prairie-ward,  selecting  a  quarter-section  of 
land  two  miles  west  of  the  Prince  farm,  which  he 
afterward  bought.  To  his  mind  there  were  already 
about  as  many  settlers  here  as  the  grove  would  supply 
with  fuel,  little  dreaming  that  the  whole  country  con- 
tained but  a  few  feet  below  the  surface,  good  coal 
sufficient  to  supply  fuel  for  all  who  would  ever  live  in 
it  for  generations  to  come.  In  1835  he  with  his  two 
oldest  boys,  John  and  Marshal,  started  for  the  place 
destined  to  be  their  future  home.  But  the  winter  was 
a  very  severe  one.  They  were  delayed  on  their  way  and 
did  not  reach  their  destination  until  March,  1836.  They 
went  into  camp  near  the  place  now  owned  by  Mr. 
Wash.  Mott  and  began  industriously  to  prepare  for 
the  family.  Mr.  Prince,  ever  ready  to  accommodate 
new  comers,  rented  them  some  land  for  wheat,  corn, 
potatoes  and  other  vegetables.     They  endured  many 


THE  WILLIAM   P.   BLANCHARD  FAMILY  11 

hardships,  at  one  time  being  reduced  to  a  diet  of  bran 
bread,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  getting  grain  ground. 
But  "Stick  to  it"  was  their  motto  and  finally  logs  were 
ready  for  building,  rails  for  fencing,  the  vegetables 
w^ere  growing  nicely,  and  Mr.  Blanchard  with  the  boys 
turned  his  face  Southward  to  fetch  Polly  and  the 
babies.  As  rapidly  as  possible  he  closed  up  his  business 
at  home,  took  leave  of  old  friends  of  long  and  pleasant 
associations,  who  were  assembled  to  see  them  off,  and 
again  turned  to  the  North.  The  sight  of  this  caravan 
of  pilgrims  bound  for  a  new  country  would  be  an 
interesting  one  today.  The  train  was  lead  by  a  huge 
Virginia  schooner  drawn  by  five  yoke  of  oxen,  John 
driving.  If  that  old  Virginia  wagon  were  here  to-day 
it  would  be  a  curiosity  equal  to  the  log  cabin.  It  was 
made  of  strong,  heavy  timber,  so  braced  and  fastened 
together  that  it  could  scarce  break  if  rolled  down  a 
mountain  side.  The  end  gates  were  high,  with  sides 
sloping  toward  the  center;  on  each  side  of  the  bed  was 
a  box  for  tools  or  other  articles  that  might  be  needed 
by  the  way;  at  the  back  was  a  large  feed  box.  The 
wagon  was  painted  blue  and  covered  with  25  yards  of 
linen  spun  and  woven  by  Mrs.  Blanchard  and  her 
daughters.  In  this  wagon  was  stored  food  to  supply 
the  family  for  several  months,  two  spinning  wheels,  a 
large  quantity  of  wool  for  carding,  household  goods  of 
various  sorts,  and  Mrs.  Blanchard  and  the  small  chil- 
dren. Next  came  Mr.  Blanchard  driving  the  hogs  and 
sheep,  assisted  by  three  of  the  boys ;  and  in  the  rear 
came  the  young  ladies  of  the  family  mounted  on  horses, 
driving  the  cattle  and  loose  horses.  If  this  caravan 
should  pass  through  the  streets  of  our  village  to-day, 
it  would  create  more  excitement  than  a  procession  of 
automobiles. 

In  this  order  they  slowly  advanced  until  on  June  16, 
1836,  they  arrived  at  the  camping  ground.  The  first 
work  after  arriving  was  to  unload  the  Virginia 
schooner,  set  it  on  blocks  and  convert  it  into  a  sleeping 
room  for  six  of  the  boys.  It  took  the  whole  family  to 
lift  it  off  the  running  gear.    An  old  settler  told  me  the 


12  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

other  day  that  same  old  Virginia  schooner  was  the  one 
which  took  Daniel  Prince  and  his  family  to  Missouri. 

The  work  of  making  the  new  home  was  vigorously 
pushed  b}^  the  father  and  boys,  and  soon  music  different 
from  that  of  the  birds  in  the  tree-tops  was  heard  in 
the  camp, — that  of  the  busy  spinning  wheels, — for  cloth 
must  be  made  for  clothing  for  the  entire  family.  And 
if  the  young  ladies  wanted  silk  or  fine  Jackonette,  or 
any  other  finery  for  dresses,  they  must  first  make  home 
made  cloth  to  exchange  for  the  other.  We  must  not 
get  an  idea  that  our  early  pioneer  girls  had  no  love  of 
finery  or  the  privilege  of  dressing  nicely  if  they  wished. 
Almost  every  family  gave  their  girls  the  privilege,  after 
the  household  had  been  supplied,  of  making  cloth  to 
exchange  for  store  goods,  an  opportunity  which  most 
of  them  quickly  improved. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blanchard's  familj^  were  happy  be- 
cause they  were  busy.  For  four  months  they  remained 
in  camp  in  White  Oak.  By  that  time  a  cabin  of  hewed 
logs  16  X  16  feet  had  been  built  on  the  prairie  land. 
In  October  they  struck  camp  and  moved  into  the  log 
cabin.  How  this  family  of  father,  mother  and  eleven 
children,  four  of  them  grown,  managed  to  live  in  this 
little  cabin  is  hard  to  tell.  But  you  may  be  sure  the 
family  were  all  safely  housed  at  night  with  the  latch 
string  always  out  for  any  belated  traveler,  and  there 
were  many  such  who  were  fearfully  afraid  of  the 
wolves,  especially  the  Eastern  people,  unused  to  these 
howling  creatures.  None  were  ever  turned  away,  but 
every  one  was  made  welcome  to  a  good  comforter  and 
a  bed  by  the  great  log  fire  place,  an  invitation  gladly 
accepted  by  many  a  weary  traveler. 

In  this  little  log  cabin  a  little  girl  was  born  May  24, 
1837,  less  than  a  year  after  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blanchard 
had  settled  in  Peoria  County.  Two  other  children  were 
born  later,  making  fourteen  in  all.  There  are  four  of 
these  children  still  living.  Of  the  descendants  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Blanchard  there  are  living  to-day,  four  chil- 
dren, thirty-four  grand-children,  one  hundred  twenty- 
seven  great-grandchildren  and  thirty-one  great  great- 


THE  WILLIAM   P.   BLANCHARD  FAMILY  13 

grandchildren,  two  hundred  in  all,  scattered  all  over 
the  United  States,  and  some  even  as  far  away  as  India. 

Mr.  Blanchard  was  one  of  the  first  men  elected  to 
the  office  of  magistrate  in  this  township.  Although 
coming  from  a  slave  state  and  a  slave  owner's  family, 
he  was  an  old  line  Whig,  and  a  staunch  abolitionist, 
taking  his  stand  with  the  Republican  party  when  that 
party  was  organized.  He  and  his  wife  were  active 
Christians  and  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  do  so, 
opened  their  doors  for  religious  services,  large  congre- 
gations from  far  and  near  often  assembling  in  their 
home  to  hear  the  gospel  preached.  All  who  wished  to 
remain  for  afternoon  services  were  invited  to  do  so  and 
were  freely  fed  and  made  as  comfortable  as  possible. 
In  the  early  fifties  a  family  reunion  was  held  on  the 
home  farm.  The  fourteen  children  were  all  present, 
the  youngest  being  about  four  years  old.  Not  once  had 
death  entered  their  circle.  In  all  there  were  about 
fifty  present.  It  was  a  day  of  gladness  and  feasting. 
Soon  after  one  of  the  boys  went  AVest  in  search  of 
gold,  followed  a  year  later  by  a  younger  brother.  They 
never  returned.  One  found  a  grave  at  Olympia,  Wash- 
ington, the  other  at  Astoria,  Oregon. 

In  the  fall  of  1855  Mr.  Blanchard  bought  a  home 
in  the  Village  of  Princeville  and  moved  his  family 
there.  Here  he  and  his  Avife  lived  until  they  exceeded 
their  golden  wedding  anniversary  by  three  years.  In 
1868  Mrs.  Blanchard  died  suddenly,  followed  a  year 
later  by  her  husband  who  died  after  a  protracted 
illness, — and  two  more  of  Princeville 's  pioneer  settlers 
had  gone  to  their  long  rest. 

All  honor  to  the  brave  and  noble  men  and  women 
who  were  not  afraid  to  brave  the  dangers,  endure  the 
hardships,  deny  themselves  the  comforts  and  associa- 
tions of  their  early  homes,  that  we,  their  descendants, 
might  have  a  broader  scope,  greater  opportunities  and 
more  freedom  in  a  better  country. 


14  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 


THE  SLOAN  FAMILY. 

By  S.  S.  Slane,  1906. 


Jerome  Sloan,  son  of  John  K.  and  Maria  Sloan,  was 
born  in  Sloansville,  New  York,  January  15,  1813.  Mr. 
Sloan's  parents  with  their  entire  family  left  New  York 
for  Peoria  County  in  the  fall  of  1837,  arriving  at  Peoria 
in  December  of  that  year,  having  come  by  teams  all  of 
the  way.  They  stopped  near  Farmington  until  the 
spring  of  1839,  when  they  moved  to  Princeville.  They 
occupied  a  cabin  North  of  the  Village  on  land  owned 
by  a  Mr.  Riggs,  until  the  spring  of  1840,  when  they 
removed  to  the  farm  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Sloan.  Soon 
after  the  father  died.  The  family  at  that  time  con- 
sisted of  the  mother,  five  sons  and  one  daughter.  The 
eldest  son,  Ralph,  was  a  noted  artist  of  his  time,  being 
a  painter  of  portraits  and  landscapes.  He  died  many 
years  since.  Joseph  lost  his  life  through  an  accident 
Avhile  yet  a  j^oung  man,  Henry  dying  more  recently. 
Augustus  D.  went  over-land  to  California  at  an  early 
date,  dying  a  few  years  since  in  the  village  here.  Emily, 
the  only  daughter,  married  Nelson  Burnham,  of  Farm- 
ington, Fulton  County,  Illinois,  who  died  last  winter 
in  the  city  of  Peoria. 

Mr.  Jerome  Sloan  married  Miss  Charlotte  Barnes  in 
1860.  To  them  were  born  eleven  children,  nine  sons 
and  two  daughters.  He  has  passed  through  the  hard- 
ships and  privations  of  pioneer  life,  and  has  by  industry 
and  economy  accumulated  sufficient  of  this  world's 
goods  to  enable  him  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  daj^s 
in  comfort  and  ease.  While  he  has  never  been  con- 
nected with  any  of  the  religious  associations  of  this 
community,  he  has  very  decided  views  of  his  own  on 
these  matters.  Mr.  Sloan  at  this  time  is  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  most  excellent  health,  being  able  to  walk  to  and 
from  the  village  from  his  home  without  any  assistance, 
which  at  his  age  of  ninety-three  years  is  quite  remark- 
able. 


THE   MORROW   FAMILY  15 

THE  MORROW  FAMILY. 

By  S.  S.  Slane,  1906. 


Hugh  Morrow  was  born  on  Section  7  in  Akron 
Township,  on  April  14,  1832.  In  the  year  1838  his  par- 
ents removed  to  Section  20  of  Akron  Township,  where 
he  has  lived  ever  since,  a  period  of  68  years.  Mr.  Mor- 
row's parents,  Thomas  Morrow  and  Eleanor  Morrow, 
came  from  Park  County,  Indiana,  to  Peoria  County, 
Illinois,  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1832  and  settled 
on  Section  7,  Akron  Township.  With  Mr.  Thomas  Mor- 
row came  his  parents,  John  Morrow,  Sr.,  and  Jane 
Morrow;  also  four  brothers  and  two  sisters,  James, 
John  Jr.,  William,  Josiah,  Elizabeth,  who  became  the 
wife  of  Daniel  Prince,  the  pioneer  settler  of  this  place, 
for  whom  the  Township,  the  Village  and  the  Grove  were 
named,  and  Jane,  the  wife  of  Samuel  R.  White,  an  early 
settler  of  Princeville  Township.  John  Morrow,  Sr., 
owned  and  improved  a  part  of  the  farm  recently  sold 
by  Mr.  Charles  Taylor,  South  of  the  Village.  He  died 
soon  after  and  was  buried  in  the  old  Cemetery  South 
of  the  Village  of  Princeville,  long  since  abandoned. 
Mrs.  Jane  Morrow  and  son  Jolin  in  company  with  Mr. 
Prince  and  family,  moved  from  this  vicinity  to  the 
State  of  Missouri  in  the  fall  of  1839,  where  they  have 
long  since  been  numbered  with  the  dead.  Mr.  Josiah 
Morrow  moved  to  Iowa  in  1840,  having  improved  a  part 
of  the  estate  owned  at  this  time  by  the  heirs  of  the 
late  Austin  Bouton.  Mr.  Morrow  died  January  5,  1899, 
at  the  age  of  eighty.  Mr.  James  Morrow  improved  the 
farm  now  owned  by  Mr.  Elijah  Tracy  and  others,  a 
part  being  included  in  the  village  corporation.  He  sold 
out  and  moved  to  Washington  County,  Iowa,  in  the 
year  1854,  where  he  died  well  advanced  in  age,  and 
respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  Mr.  William  Morrow 
improved  the  farm  now  owned  by  Frank  Debord,  which 
he  sold  in  1872,  moving  to  Andrew  County,  Missouri, 
where  he  died.     Mr.  Thomas  Morrow,  father  of  Hugh 


16  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

Morrow,  died  in  1848,  leaving  his  wife  and  a  family  of 
ten  children,  eight  sons  and  two  daughters. 

Mr.  Hugh  Morrow  has  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  white  child  born  in  Akron  Township,  also  of 
having  lived  a  greater  number  of  years  on  the  same 
section  than  any  other  resident  of  the  ToA^Tiship.  Hugh 
Morrow  (son  of  Thomas  Morrow),  Samuel  Morro>\'  (son 
of  William  Morrow^  and  William  and  Mary  Ann  White 
(son  and  daughter  of  Mrs.  Jane  Morrow  White),  are  the 
only  representatives  of  this  large  family  now  living  in 
this  vicinity. 


THE  JOHN  SMITH  FAMILY  OF  NORTHWEST 

PRINCEVILLE. 

By  Miss  Mary  J.  Smith,  1906. 


Miss  Jane  Payne  was  born  August  16,  1825,  near 
Hillsville,  Carroll  county,  Virginia.  When  about  six- 
teen years  of  age  she  came  West  to  Illinois  and  settled 
on  Section  7  in  Princeville  ToA\Tiship,  where  she  re- 
sided until  the  fall  of  1890,  then  becoming  a  resident 
of  the  Village  of  Princeville. 

Her  parents,  Walter  and  Rachel  Payne,  had  come 
up  from  North  Carolina  and  settled  in  that  part  of  Vir- 
ginia when  it  was  a  new  country,  and  wild  turkey,  deer 
and  black  bear  inhabited  the  Blue  Ridge  Movmtains, 
near  which  they  lived.  Grand  father  Payne  was  a  gun- 
smith by  trade ;  he  also  did  blacksmith  work,  both  of 
which  trades  were  very  useful  to  the  community  in 
those  days  when  almost  everything  in  those  lines  was 
wrought  out  by  hand.  Pie  was  also  a  great  hunter  and 
loved  to  tell  of  his  hunting  adventures,  how  straight  he 
could  shoot,  and  of  hoAv  much  game  he  killed  with  the 
first  pound  of  powder  he  ever  had  bought  for  him : 
sixty  wild  turkeys,  tAVO  deer  and  one  bear.  Grand- 
mother Payne  also  could  handle  a  gun.  One  day  a 
large  blue  winged  hawk  was  after  lier  chickens  and  she 


THE  JOHN    SMITH    FAMILY  OF   NORTHWEST  PRINCEVILLE  17 

took  down  grandfather's  gun  and  went  after  the  hawk 
and  shot  it. 

In  those  days  the  pioneer  women  were  not  nervous, 
they  were  equal  to  any  emergency.  They  could  kill  a 
snake,  shoot  a  hawk  or  kill  a  bear,  like  Betsey  Bobbitt 
did.  Iler  brother.  Uncle  Abram  Cooley,  had  come 
West  to  Illinois,  and  had  gone  back  to  Virginia  to  settle 
up  an  estate,  and  told  what  a  fine  country  this  was,  and 
gave  such  a  glowing  account  of  this  rich  black  prairie 
soil,  that  Uncle  Ben  Cooley  said  that  he  didn't  believe 
the  Almighty  ever  made  such  a  difference  in  countries 
as  he  described. 

Anyway  Grandfather  and  Grandmother  decided  to 
become  pioneers  once  more,  and  cast  their  lot  in  the 
Sucker  State  this  time,  and  in  September,  1842,  in  com- 
pany with  other  friends  and  relatives  to  the  number  of 
twenty-seven,  they  started  "West"  in  prairie  schooners. 
Of  that  goodly  number  they  have  ''gathered  homeward 
one  by  one,"  until  Mrs.  Smith  now  is  the  only  one  left 
to  ford  the  Kiver. 

They  were  six  weeks  on  the  road,  traveling  by  day 
and  camping  out  nights,  sleeping  in  the  wagons  or 
under  a  tent  cloth.  Sometimes  if  it  rained  the  w^omen 
and  children  were  sheltered  in  the  homes,  which  in 
those  days  were  very  hospitably  inclined. 

In  those  days  the  opportunities  for  receiving  an  edu- 
cation were  very  different  from  now.  J\Iiss  Jane  had 
an  opportunity  to  go  to  Rochester  and  live  with  a  kind 
lady  and  go  to  school,  but  fidelity  to  her  mother  who 
was  in  feeble  health,  caused  her  to  decide  otherwise  and 
miss  the  opportunity.  Surely  the  promise  has  been 
verified  in  her  case,  for  the  Lord  hath  said,  "Honor  thy 
father  and  thy  mother  that  thy  days  may  be  long  upon 
the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee." 

Her  husband,  John  Smith,  was  born  in  Rutherglen, 
Lanarksliire,  Scotland,  December  14,  1822.  He  re- 
moved with  his  parents  to  Glasgow  when  between  three 
and  four  years  of  age,  and  was  educated  at  Mr.  Mc- 
Ewen's  school  in   the  Barony  parish,  receiving  many 


18  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

prizes  from  the  principal,  the  Rev.  McFarland,  minister 
in  the  High  Church  of  Glasgow. 

After  leaving  school  he  spent  a  few  years  as  clerk 
in  a  book  store,  where  he  acquired  a  taste  for  reading 
which  lasted  through  life.  He  also  worked  for  a  short 
time  in  a  factory  as  dresser.  He  came  to  America  in 
1841,  and  settled  in  Princeville  Township  in  1844  as  a 
farmer,  where  he  resided  until  his  death,  the  27th  of 
May,  1890. 

It  was  here  he  met  his  "Bonnie  Jean"  of  w^hom  he 
sung  in  the  Scottish  melody  so  quaintly  sweet.  In  the 
flowery  month  of  May  he  was  married  to  Miss  Jane 
Payne  hy  the  side  of  the  log  cabin  home,  under  two 
great  spreading  oak  trees.  May  18,  1848.  Rev.  Robt. 
Breese,  whose  narrow  home  is  now  in  the  Princeville 
cemetery  where  the  weeping  willow  waves,  spoke  the 
mystic  words  that  united  their  lives  until  death  did 
them  part.  To  them  were  born  eight  children :  Isa- 
bella. Rachel,  John,  "Walter,  Mary  J.,  Margaret  A., 
\Yilliam  W.,  and  Lizzie  S. 

For  more  than  sixteen  years,  his  children  and  grand- 
children have  missed  his  fatherly  counsel,  but  the  com- 
panion who  journeyed  by  his  side  for  forty-two  years, 
has  missed  him  most.  And  as  the  boatman,  with  his 
noiseless  oars,  comes  to  row  us  one  by  one  over  the  re- 
sistless tide,  we  trust  that  only  the  ripples  may  come 
and  go,  as  she  crosses  the  bar  that  separates  her  from 
that  great  company  of  loved  ones  who  have  already 
crossed  the  tide,  and  hear  the  Welcome  Home.* 

Grandfather  Smith  was  born  at  Rutherglen,  near 
Glasgow,  Scotland,  about  the  year  1789,  and  died  at  his 
home  near  Princeville,  111.,  March  27,  1852,  aged  63 
years.  His  name  was  John,  that  being  the  name  of  the 
oldest  son  in  each  family  for  more  than  two  hundred 
years  previously.  Grandmother  Smith,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Margaret  White,  died  in  Scotland  leaving 
four   small    children.     Afterward    he    married   Bethia 


* 


Mrs.  Jane  Payne-Smith  died  January  30,  1912. 


THE  JOHN    SMITH    FAMILY  OF   NORTHWEST  PRINCEVILLE  19 

Eura,  who  was  born  at  Rutherglen  also,  in  1798,  and 
died  at  her  home  near  Princeville,  October  24,  1876, 
aged  78  years. 

They  emigrated  to  America  in  the  fall  of  1842,  and 
landed  at  New  Orleans  after  being  nine  weeks  on  the 
ocean  voyage.  A  fearful  hurricane  off  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  drove  the  vessel  back  300  miles  and  prolonged 
the  voyage.  They  thought,  for  a  time,  the  vessel  with 
all  on  board  would  find  a  watery  grave,  but  a  kind 
Providence  spared  their  lives  and  they  reached  their 
destination,  America.  They  stayed  in  New  Orleans  a 
short  time  and  then  came  to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  with  their 
family  consisting  of  the  following  children  :  Margaret, 
Isabella,  Robert,  Jannet,  ArchjJiald  and  David.  After 
remaining  in  St.  Louis  about  two  years,  they  came  to 
Princeville  Township  in  the  spring  of  1844.  The  oldest 
son,  John,  who  had  come  to  America  about  a  year  pre- 
viously, came  from  Canada  to  visit  them  soon  after 
their  arrival.  It  was  to  be  with  him  as  well  as  to  better 
their  condition  that  the  family  had  come  to  America. 

Grandfather  Smith  enlisted  in  the  Peninsular  w^ar 
when  quite  a  young  man  (war  between  England  and 
France  and  their  allied  powers,  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
and  Napoleon  Bonaparte  commanding  the  respective 
sides).  He  was  in  the  army  about  nine  years,  and  his 
time  expired  about  three  weeks  before  the  battle  of 
Waterloo.  He  was  wounded  in  battle,  once  lying  on 
the  battle-field  three  or  four  days  before  he  could  get 
away,  and  saw  the  hardships  of  army  life.  At  times 
they  were  so  reduced  in  rations  as  to  be  glad  to  get  the 
corn  that  was  fed  to  the  horses. 

Grandfather  was  a  man  of  deeply  pious  and  re- 
ligious temperament,  and  administered  to  the  spiritual 
needs  of  many  of  the  early  settlers  far  and  near.  He 
was  in  the  habit  of  gathering  his  family  around  him 
night  and  morning  for  family  worship,  and  died,  as  he 
had  lived,  trusting  in  the  living  God. 

Grandmother  Smith  was  a  strong  woman  physically. 
She  washed  in  the  early  days  to  help  along,  and  walked 
and  carried  one  of  her  grandchildren  from  Peoria  to 


20  HISTORY   AND  REMINISCENCES 

their  home  in  Princeville  Township,  a  distance  of  27 
miles.  She  was  the  mother  of  eight  children,  five  of 
whom  died  in  Scotland.  She  also  was  a  woman  with 
strong  convictions  of  right,  and  the  winter's  earliest 
recollection  of  her  was  of  seeing  her  seated  at  a  table 
near  a  window,  knitting,  with  her  open  Bible  before 
her,  sometimes  reading  aloud  from  the  word  of  God. 
Coming  here  as  they  did  in  the  early  days,  they  knew 
the  hardships  and  privations  of  pioneer  life,  but  by  per- 
severing industry  accumulated  a  comfortable  amount 
of  this  world's  goods  and  blazed  the  way  for  their  pos- 
terity. They  are  entitled  to  our  reverence  and  sin- 
cerest  gratitude  and  respect. 


THE  SLANE  FA]\IILY. 
By  Edward  Auten,  1906. 


Benjamin  Slane  was  born  in  Chester,  Frederic 
County,  Virginia,  in  1798.  He  married  Delilah  Cheshire, 
of  Hampshire  County,  in  1824.  She  was  an  excellent 
woman,  and  the  mother  of  six  children,  viz. :  Benja- 
min F.  (commonly  called  Frank),  John  Z.,  Elizabeth 
A.,  Delilah  J.,  Samuel  S.  and  James  T.  Slane. 

In  that  same  Virginia  community  were  tw^o  other 
families,  those  of  Jonathan  Nixon  and  William  Nixon, 
forming  with  Mr,  Slane 's  family  a  little  group  bound 
together  by  ties  of  relationship  (even  though  Jonathan 
and  William  Nixon  were  not  related)  and  common  good 
will  and  interests. 

In  1830  Mr.  Slane  moved  his  family,  then  consisting 
of  three  children,  John,  Frank  and  Elizabeth,  to  Ohio, 
where  the  Nixons  had  already  preceded  him.  But  be- 
fore leaving  Virginia  he  had  decided  to  come  event- 
ually to  Fort  Clark,  now  Peoria,  and  in  1831  he,  to- 
gether with  the  Nixons,  made  their  way  to  the  Ohio 
River  at  Marietta,  where  they  procured  a  "keel"  boat, 
flat  and  square,  and  shaped  like  a  box  car,  and  floated 
on  it  to  Cincinnati.     Here  they  abandoned  the  keel  boat 


THE    SLANE   FAMILY  21 

and  changed  to  the  steamboat  "Don  Juan,"  a  tub  of  a 
boat  with  a  big  name.  The  children  and  women  were 
much  awed  by  the  noise  and  racket,  the  excitement  of 
changing  at  night,  the  profanity  of  the  boat's  crew, 
the  first  they  had  heard,  and  the  haste  to  be  off  to  the 
next  stop,  Louisville.  Changing  boats  again  here,  they 
reached  St.  Louis  in  good  time.  From  St.  Louis  to 
Fort  Clark  they  had  as  traveling  companions  eighteen 
big  burley  Indians,  wearing  blankets  and  provided 
with  big  iron  kettles.  These  were  the  first  Indians  any 
of  the  party  had  ever  seen,  and  of  them  the  women  and 
children  were  very  much  afraid. 

There  were  no  stoves  in  those  davs,  and  so  on  the 
deck  of  the  boat  a  place  was  provided  to  build  a  fire 
and  cook  the  meals.  The  Indians  were  always  the  first 
to  cook  breakfast  which  consisted  of  a  big  kettle  of 
corn  meal  into  which  they  threw  chunks  of  meat,  the 
whole  giving  off  an  odor  anything  but  savory  to  a  white 
man. 

The  steamer  proceeded  slowly  up  the  Illinois  River, 
stopping  now  and  then  at  'Svoodyards"  along  the 
banks  to  lay  in  a  supply  of  wood — the  only  fuel  known 
at  that  time. 

On  November  4th,  1831,  a  beautiful  autumn  day, 
they  landed  at  Fort  Clark,  and  as  they  clambered  up 
the  bank  ''there  probably  was  never  a  more  homesick 
band  of  women  and  children  than  this  one,"  and  prob- 
ably a  few  of  the  men  were  at  least  slightly  affected. 
Quarters  were  procured  in  a  double  log  cabin  and  all 
went  there.  William  Nixon  got  a  separate  cabin  soon, 
but  Jonathan  and  Mr.  Slane  lived  there  with  their  fam- 
ilies until  the  next  summer,  and  a  "cold,  dirty,  thank- 
less cabin  it  was,  but  as  good  as  the  average."  It  was 
situated  on  the  river  side  of  Water  street  and  not  more 
than  a  stone's  throw  from  the  present  City  Depot,  and 
diagonally  opposite  the  Indian  headquarters.  They 
lived  in  Peoria  for  two  years;  Mr.  Slane  and  a  Mr. 
Craig  cut  and  salted  hogs  for  one  Martin  in  the  winter 
of  1832-33. 


23  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

Mr.  Slane  moved  in  March,  1833,  to  Section  27  in 
Richwoods  Township,  where  he  had  built  a  cabin  the 
winter  before.  Two  years  later  he  sold  his  claim  to 
Smith  Frye  for  $200.00,  moving  in  April  of  1835  to 
Rosefield  to  a  new  claim  on  the  Ejioxville  road,  then 
barely  passable. 

Big  Hollow  was  so  steep  they  locked  the  wheels  to- 
gether, and  all  got  out  and  walked,  Mrs,  Slane  carrying 
the  present  President  of  our  Old  Settlers'  Union  in  her 
arms,  he  being  then  a  babe  of  less  than  a  year  old. 
They  passed  through  the  Village  of  Kickapoo,  com- 
prising one  house  and  one  log  stable,  of  which  John 
Coyle,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Asa  Beall,  was  sole  proprietor. 

Mrs.  Slane,  in  the  prime  of  life,  when  most  needed 
by  her  children,  died  at  the  age  of  39  in  1839,  and  her 
death  was  a  great  affliction  to  Mr.  Slane.  He  never 
married  again,  but  with  a  sad  heart  and  a  resolute  will 
entered  upon  the  difficult  duties  of  raising  and  educat- 
ing in  these  pioneer  times  his  children,  a  task  most  men 
would  have  shrunk  from,  but  he  did  not.  Elizabeth 
Nixon,  wife  of  Jonathan,  neighbor  to  Mr.  Slane  at  this 
time  and  afterwards  when  they  moved  to  Princeville, 
became  almost  a  second  mother  to  his  children,  v/ho 
even  now  bear  in  grateful  memory  her  care  of  them  at 
that  time. 

William  Nixon,  who  had  moved  to  Tazewell  from 
Peoria,  crossed  the  river  once  more  and  lived  in  Rose- 
field  several  years,  then  went  back  to  Tazewell  again, 
and  still  later  settled  down  at  Elmwood  where  he  ran 
the  first  hotel.     He  died  there  in  1858. 

In  1840  Mr.  Slane  and  Jonathan  Nixon  moved  to 
Princeville.  Mr.  Slane  purchased  Block  20  of  Mr. 
Stevens  and  moved  into  a  log  cabin  standing  in  the  cen- 
ter of  it.  The  first  year  in  Princeville  was  very  hard — 
"So  hard  I  often  think  it  would  do  the  young  people  of 
the  present  generation  good  to  live  as  we  did  for  just 
one  month." 

In  1845,  brothers  Frank  and  John  started  a 
lime  kiln  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Section  24,  Prince- 
ville Township,  about  sixty  rods  west  of  the  east  section 


THE   SLAXE  FAMILY  23 

line.  This  was  the  only  lime  kiln  for  miles  around  and 
drew  trade  from  points  as  distant  as  AVeathersfield, 
Galva,  Rochester,  Brimfield,  Lawn  Ridge  and  Chilli- 
eothe.  They  chopped  and  split  the  wood  in  the  winter 
themselves  and  in  the  summer  burat  the  lime,  occasion- 
ally having  to  hire  an  extra  man  to  quarry  stone.  They 
continued  in  this  business  for  nine  years.  Shortly  after 
they  quit,  lime  began  to  be  shipped  in,  so  that  their 
business  would  have  been  gone  from  them  had  they 
continued. 

In  1846  Mr.  Benjamin  Slane  purchased  an  acre 
tract  east  of  his  log  cabin,  in  Akron,  and  built  a  frame 
house,  where  he  moved.  Later  he  bought  the  acre 
north  of  it,  extending  to  the  north  section  line.  This  is 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  Hitchcock  pond.  These 
two  acres  he  occupied  as  his  homestead  until  November 
22,  1865,  when  he  moved  to  the  southeast  quarter  of 
Section  23,  where  Mr.  Thos.  Slane  now  lives.  Here 
Mr.  Slane  lived  until  his  death  on  April  29,  1875.  At 
one  time  he  knew  every  man  in  the  county.  He  never 
sought  office,  but  the  people,  having  faith  in  his  in- 
tegrity, kept  him  justice  of  the  peace  for  twelve  years, 
and  supervisor  six  years.  He  made  a  good  justice.  He 
carefully  considered  the  cases  he  had  to  decide,  and  as 
near  as  we  can  learn,  not  one  of  his  decisions  has  been 
reversed  by  the  higher  courts.  He  always  advised 
litigants  to  settle,  and  every  three  out  of  five  cases  pre- 
sented to  him  were  settled  before  trial.  He  aided  in 
the  promotion  of  educational  interests,  and  has  been  a 
school  official.  He  aided  in  public  improvements,  when 
a  benefit  to  the  town.  When  he  arrived  at  Fort  Clark 
he  had  just  one  picayune  in  his  pocket.  By  his  own 
personal  efforts  he  soon  acquired  money  enough  to  pur- 
chase land.  His  life  was  a  busy  and  eventful  one.  He 
was  ever  a  friend  to  the  cause  of  humanity,  freedom  of 
thought  and  speech,  charitable  to  all,  with  malice  to- 
wards none;  ever  loving  the  right,  because  of  its  jus- 
tice; ever  hating  wrong  because  of  his  knowledge  of  its 
pernicious  influences  on  the  destinies  of  mankind. 


24  HISTORY   AXD   REMINISCENCES 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Nixon  died  at  Red  Oak,  Iowa,  April 
20,  1884,  and  her  remains  were  brought  to  Cambridge, 
Illinois,  and  interred  in  the  cemeterj^  at  that  place  by 
the  side  of  her  husband,  Jonathan  Nixon.  She  left  one 
child,  Mrs.  M.  H.  Hewitt,  with  whom  she  lived  at  the 
time  of  her  death.  Mr.  Hewitt  was  a  lawyer,  first  at 
Toulon,  then  at  Cambridge,  and  later  he  moved  to  Red 
Oak,  Iowa,  where  he  was  elected  Circuit  Judge. 

Of  the  children  of  Mr.  Slane,  Benjamin  F.  died 
eleven  years  ago,  the  father  of  six  children,  viz. :  Ida, 
now  dead  nine  years,  Odillon,  Oliver.  Edgar,  Elgie  and 
Mina. 

Samuel  S.  and  Elizabeth  A.  Slane  have  never  mar- 
ried. 

Delilah  J.  in  1854  married  William  E.  Root.  They 
moved  to  Nebraska,  residing  at  present  at  Fairbury, 
that  state. 

James  T.  married  Margaret  Green  in  September, 
1860.     To  them  was  born  one  daughter,  Eva. 

John  Z.  Slane  enlisted  on  August  9,  1862,  in  Capt. 
French's  company,  Co.  K.  Eighty-sixth  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  did  hospital  duty  twice  and  in  the  spring  of  1864 
was  sent  home  for  a  few  months  to  recover  from  severe 
illness  contracted  from  exposure  near  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
In  March,  1867,  he  was  married  to  Mary  Patton,  a  niece 
of  Dr.  R.  F.  Henry,  and  to  them  were  born  four  chil- 
dren, Wilber  P.,  Elzada  V.,  and  two  w^ho  died  in  in- 
fanc3^ 

Unlike  many  families,  the  children  of  Benjamin 
Slane  have  not  scattered.  Save  for  the  one  daughter 
now  residing  in  Nebraska,  all  of  them  have  remained 
in  this  community,  without  exception  honest  and  up- 
right in  business,  deserving  success  and  obtaining  it, 
and  respected  by  all  who  know  them. 


WILLIAM    C.    STEVEN'S,  THE   FOUiVDER  OF   PRIxXCEVILEE  25 

WILLIAM  C.  STEVENS,  THE  FOUNDER  OP 

PRINCEVILLE. 

By  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Moody  and  Mrs.  Hannah  G.  Ilutchins, 

1907. 


Perhaps  it  will  be  interesting  to  the  members  of 
our  organization  to  know  somewhat  of  the  early  life 
and  history  of  the  founder  of  our  little  village  as  going 
to  show  how  the  training  of  the  boy  shapes  the  char- 
acter of  the  man.  William  Chase  Stevens  was  born  at 
Plainfield,  N.  IL,  in  May,  1797.  There  on  a  rocky  New 
England  farm  in  sight  of  the  perpetually  snow  clad 
Mt.  Croyden,  he  passed  the  first  seven  years  of  his  life. 
Gifted  with  a  remarkably  retentive  memory  he  often 
told  his  children  of  incidents  that  occurred  in  those 
early  and  trying  days,  for  New  Hampshire  at  that  time 
was  but  a  new  and  sparsely  settled  state.  Among 
others,  one  extremely  cold  and  snowy  winter  when 
the  snow  had  lain  for  weeks  five  feet  deep  on  the  level, 
the  roads  were  impassable  and  the  wild  deer  and  birds 
almost  exterminated  by  the  cold ;  as  the  snow  began  to 
melt  off  toward  spring,  the  big,  gray,  half-starved 
w^olves  came  down  from  the  mountains  in  packs,  de- 
vouring in  their  ravenous  hunger  all  domestic  animals 
that  were  not  well  housed. 

One  sunny  day  at  this  time,  his  father  turned  out 
their  one  cow  to  stand  for  the  first  time  in  many  weeks 
in  the  sunshine  on  the  south  side  of  the  barn  where  the 
snow  had  been  cleared  off  for  a  small  space.  On  com- 
ing to  the  house  for  a  bucket  of  water  (they  had  to 
melt  snow  for  all  water  for  stock  as  well  as  for  them- 
selves) a  pack  of  wolves  came  after  the  cow,  and  she 
ran  bellowing  toward  the  house,  but  the  wolves  got  her, 
five  springing  on  her  at  one  time,  killing  and  de- 
vouring her  before  their  eyes,  though  the  old  Hint  lock 
did  good  service  in  the  process. 

The  faithful  dog  had  fallen  a  pre}^  long  since,  while 
the  father  with  dog  and  gun  was  trying  to  protect  his 
sheep  from  the  voracious  wolves.     Mr.  Stevens  remem- 


26  HISTORY   AND  REMINISCENCES 

bered  hearing  his  mother  exclaim  as  the  cow  went 
down,  "Oh,  what  will  my  poor  children  do  now,"  as 
the  cow  had  contributed  largely  to  their  support  dur- 
ing that  terrible  winter.  This  is  only  one  of  many  in- 
cidents in  the  life  of  that  sturdy  New  England  boy. 

In  1804  that  irreparable  loss  (especially  to  a  boy) 
came  to  him — his  father  died  of  pneumonia  after  an 
illness  of  only  four  days,  leaving  a  widow  with  six 
young  children  on  a  rocky  farm  not  wholly  paid  for. 
The  widow  (who  some  of  you  might  be  interested  to 
know  was  a  cousin  of  Bishop  Philander  Chase,  founder 
of  Jubilee  College,  and  also  of  Kenyon  College,  Ohio,) 
finding  it  impossible  to  finish  paying  for  the  farm  and 
raise  her  children,  sold  it,  paid  all  debts  and  moved 
onto  a  much  smaller  farm  in  Cornish  near  the  Con- 
necticut River.  Here,  by  the  most  economical  man- 
agement and  incessant  industry  of  all  the  family,  they 
wrung  from  that  little,  hard  New  England  farm,  not 
only  a  good  living,  but  means  to  give  her  family  good 
school  and  church  privileges  and  also  to  help  others 
when  needed,  though  the  latter  was  always  at  great 
sacrifice.  Thus  was  the  boy's  sturdy  character  being 
formed  as  well  as  his  sturdy  physique. 

He  went  to  district  school  winters,  studying  at  home 
evenings  and  reciting  to  his  older  sisters,  keeping  them 
diligently  studying  as  one  of  them  said,  to  answer  his 
many  questions.  At  the  age  of  12  years  he  entered 
Meriden  Academy,  attending  winters  and  working  on 
his  mother's  farm  in  summer.  During  the  winter  he 
stayed  at  the  home  of  his  mother's  cousin.  Judge  Short, 
paying  his  board  by  taking  care  of  the  horse  and  cow 
and  cutting  the  wood  for  three,  sometimes  four  fires,  all 
the  time  studying  evenings. 

Thus  in  four  years  he  finished  his  academy  course 
with  honor  and  returned  to  work  on  the  farm.  But  he 
was  uneasy,  he  wanted  to  go  to  college  and  his  mother 
needed  him  at  home.  The  occasional  peep  into  his 
cousin's  law  books  and  library  proved  an  inspiration 
to  him  and  he  longed  to  know  more.     There  was  so 


WILLIAM    C.    STEVENS,  THE   FOUNDER  OF   PRINCEVILLE  27 

mneh  to  learn  that  he  felt  he  could  not  content  himself 
working:  from  sunrise  to  sunset  on  the  farm. 

Gradually  the  mother  learned  of  his  ambition  and 
said,  ''Well,  William,  I  guess  your  sisters  and  I  will 
have  to  buckle  in  and  send  you  to  college  and  you  can 
still  help  in  summer  in  haying,  Elizabeth  has  her  cer- 
tificate and  can  teach  school  now — I  will  make  the  but- 
ter and  cheese  and  help  your  other  sisters  in  the  spin- 
ning and  weaving — we  must  manage  some  way  to  send 
you  to  college."  His  reply  was,  "Oh,  mother!  I  don't 
want  you  to  send  me — if  I  could  only  have  my  time  I 
can  do  all  the  rest  and  help  in  haying  too" — and  he  did. 
So  the  boy  of  seventeen,  thirsting  for  knowledge,  full 
of  pluck  and  energy,  hating  idleness,  taught  school  be- 
cause he  could  earn  more  money  that  way  and  have 
more  time  for  study  and  besides  read  law  in  the  sum- 
mer with  his  cousin,  Judge  Short.  But  he  did  not  for- 
get to  redeem  his  promise  to  his  mother  of  helping  her 
in  haying,  by  hiring  a  good  man  to  work  in  his  place, 
with  her  consent. 

It  was  an  inflexible  law  with  this  good  mother  that 
everyone  should  keep  his  word,  no  matter  at  what  sac- 
rifice. The  promise  made  or  word  given  must  not  be 
broken.  This  was  another  lesson  in  life  early  and  per- 
sistently taught  by  that  mother  and  adhered  to  by  her 
son  through  a  long  life. 

,By  such  self-sacrificing  and  persevering  industry  his 
course  of  study  was  completed  and  he  had  managed 
also  to  read  a  good  deal  of  law.  He  was  sent  on  a  long 
horseback  journey  to  Western  New  York  to  settle  an 
estate  and  this  done  he  taught  for  some  time  in  Penn- 
sylvania. In  1823  he  turned  his  face  southward  where 
it  was  rumored  were  great  opportunities  for  young  men. 
He  taught  for  a  time  in  Virginia  and  later  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  at  Richmond,  and  afterwards  in 
North  Carolina.  Finding  the  bar  at  Richmond  well 
filled  with  distinguished  legal  lights  and  ambitious 
young  southern  politicians,  he  thought  best  for  a  young 
man  who  had  his  own  fortune  to  make,  to  leave  the 
charming  circle  where  ease  and  refinement  abounded 


28  HISTORY   AND   REMIXISCEXCES 

and  where  he  had  been  treated  with  all  kindness  and 
courtesy.  So  he  located  at  Amelia  Court  House,  estab- 
lishing there  a  good  practice  which  soon  extended  to  the 
adjoining  counties. 

In  1827  he  married  a  cultured  young  southern  lady 
of  Quaker  parentage  and  after  a  time  removed  to  Ashe- 
ville,  N.  C,  where  he  became  preceptor  of  a  flourishing 
academy,  doing,  as  he  said,  some  of  the  best  work  of 
his  life  as  an  instructor  of  youth — work  that  he  could 
look  back  upon  in  after  years  with  great  gratification — 
work  that  proved  to  be  of  far-reaching  and  lasting 
benefit  in  that  community.  After  spending  several 
pleasant  and  profitable  years  at  Asheville,  and  having 
now  a  young  family,  he  became  convinced  that  it  was 
not  right  to  bring  up  his  children  in  a  slave-holding 
community.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  convictions  and 
under  any  and  every  circumstance  or  condition,  he 
lived  up  to  those  convictions.  He  was  convinced  that 
slavery  was  wrong  in  itself  and  that  its  influence  on 
the  white  people  was  not  for  their  improvement,  there- 
fore he  would  have  none  of  it.  With  many  induce- 
ments to  remain  in  the  South,  easy  life,  good  position, 
his  love  of  the  kindly,  refined  and  hospitable  people,  his 
decision  was  unalterable :  his  children  should  not  be 
brought  up  in  contact  with  human  slavery.  So,  not- 
withstanding the  entreaties  of  friends,  the  home  was 
disposed  of  and  loading  their  necessary  belongings  into 
a  two-horse,  oil-cloth  covered  wagon,  he  with  his  brave 
wife  and  three  little  children  started  on  their  long 
journey  to  Illinois  in  February,  1834. 

Hearing  much  about  this  time  of  the  beauty  and 
productiveness  of  this  new  state,  of  its  broad  and  fer- 
til  prairies  all  cleared  and  waiting  for  the  plow,  he 
had  corresponded  with  his  unmarried  brother,  Amos, 
then  teaching  in  Louisiana,  who  like  himself  had  heard 
of  the  fame  of  the  Illinois  prairies  and  responded  to 
the  call.  It  was  arranged  that  Amos  should  precede 
AVilliam  to  Illinois,  select  a  location  and  have  ready  on 
their  arrival  as  comfortable  a  house  as  possible. 


WILLIAM    C.    STEVENS,  THE   FOUNDER  01-    PRINCEVILLE  29 

He  came  up  the  Mississippi  River  to  St.  Louis, 
thence  by  horseback  to  Peoria,  as  the  brothers  had 
agreed  to  make  that  their  postoffice  address  and  meet- 
ing place.  He  found  Peoria  a  hamlet  of  three  or  four 
families  and  no  idle  men  that  could  be  hired  as  help" 
or  guide.  A  Mr.  Ewalt  who  had  come  into  Peoria  with 
an  ox  team  from  French  Grove,  acted  as  guide  and 
gave  advice  as  to  the  necessary  proceedings  for  the 
erection  of  a  cabin. 

Amos  located  at  the  forks  of  the  Kickapoo,  the  tract 
of  land  selected  having  both  prairie  and  some  good  tim- 
ber. Preparations  for  building  proceeded  without  de- 
lay. Alone,  he  cut  down  trees  and  trimmed  and  snaked 
up  hill  with  his  one  horse  the  logs  for  the  cabin,  lying 
at  night  on  the  ground,  his  horse  picketed  near,  and 
faithful  dog  his  only  companions. 

On  the  night  of  the  third  day  during  a  fearful  thun- 
derstorm, his  horse  Avas  killed  by  lightning,  and  Amos 
not  returning  to  Peoria  on  Tuesday  of  the  next  week,  as 
he  intended,  Mr.  Charles  Kettelle  rode  out  the  sixteen 
miles  to  see  if  harm  had  befallen  him.  Amos  Stevens  said 
there  was  never  a  more  welcome  sight  to  the  ship- 
wrecked mariner,  than  that  friend  as  he  came  around 
the  bend  of  the  creek  just  at  the  going  down  of  the 
sun.  He  had  worked  there  eight  days  without  seeing 
a  human  being,  his  slumbers  disturbed  at  night  by  the 
howling  of  wolves,  being  obliged  to  keep  fires  burning 
to  scare  them  away.  With  some  help  from  ]\[r.  Ket- 
telle and  the  nearest  neighbor,  who  lived  nine  miles 
away,  the  cabin  was  at  last  up,  with  chimney  of  mud 
and  sticks  at  one  end  and  openings  for  door  and  win- 
dows, no  floor  as  yet. 

This  first  home  of  Mr.  Stevens  was  at  the  forks  of 
the  Kickapoo  sixteen  miles  from  Peoria  and  two  or 
three  miles  nearly  south  from  the  present  site  of  Jubi- 
lee College.  To  this  crude,  unfinished  cabin  he  brought 
his  family  after  a  weary  journey  of  more  than  three 
months,  and  here  in  this  wild,  unsettled  new  country 
they  began  their  new  life,  a  life  of  unknown  hardships, 
privations  and  dangers. 


30  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

They  straightway  set  about  making  the  cabin  more 
comfortable,  but  before  it  was  completed,  a  hard  rain 
coming  on  in  the  night  showed  them  how  unreliable 
was  a  roof  through  which  you  could  count  the  stars, 
and  openings  for  door  and  windows  without  either, 
and  walls  of  logs  with  no  plaster  between.  It  was 
difftcult  to  provide  comfortable  food  with  no  cow,  no 
chickens  or  eggs,  no  vegetables  and  no  fruit,  save  a 
few  wild  strawberries  which  seemed  like  manna  from 
heaven.  Soon  other  settlers  began  to  come  in — the  first 
one,  David  Combs,  a  bachelor,  who  proved  a  good  neigh- 
bor. Soon  after  came  James  Harrison  with  wife  and  two 
little  boys,  John  and  Robert.  Comforts  were  added 
to  the  primitive  home  as  fast  as  possible,  Mr.  Stevens 
one  day  bringing  home  a  new  cupboard,  and  in  it  an 
old  hen  and  her  thirteen  newly  hatched  chickens,  which 
after  much  persuasion  and  many  tempting  offers  he 
succeeded  in  buying  He  rode  long  distances  at  differ- 
ent times  to  purchase  a  cow  that  his  family  might  be 
supplied  with  milk  and  butter,  luxuries  that  were  im- 
possible to  procure  at  any  price.  Crops  were  coming 
on  finely  and  giving  promise  of  a  good  yield,  and  things 
generally  looked  more  encouraging,  when  everything 
was  changed  by  the  death  of  his  wife. 

The  pioneer  life  of  this  heroic  wife  and  mother 
ended  amid  these  strange  and  rude  home  surroundings, 
far  from  relatives  and  friends  and  the  home  of  her  girl- 
hood where  she  had  lived  a  life  of  ease  and  luxury. 
Her  eyes  had  greeted  the  face  of  but  one  woman  since 
her  arrival,  that  of  Mrs.  James  Harrison.  During  the 
sad  weeks  that  foUoAved,  Mr.  Stevens  was  confined 
closely  caring  for  his  very  sick  children  and  before  they 
were  wholly  well,  he  fell  sick  himself. 

At  this  time  came  what  he  always  thought  the  Prov- 
idential visit  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Slane  and  wife,  the 
father  and  mother  of  our  President,  who  had  just  set- 
tled a  mile  or  two  down  the  creek.  Having  heard  of 
the  sick,  motherless  children,  they  came  to  see  if  they 
could  render  any  assistance.  Finding  Mr.  Stevens 
prostrated  with  a  high  fever,  wholly  unable  to  sit  up, 


WILLIAM    C.    STEVENS,  THE  FOUNDER  OF  PRINCEVILLE  31 

they  immediately  set  to  work  to  make  them  more  com- 
fortable. Quickly  as  possible  they  killed  and  cooked 
a  chicken  for  broth  for  the  sick  man,  carefully  showing 
the  little  six-year-old  Mary  how  to  dress  and  cut  up  a 
chicken,  also  showing  her  how  to  make  and  bake  bis- 
cuit, thinking  that  the  father  might  be  a  long  time  sick 
with  no  one  more  competent  to  cook.  Mr.  Slane  hast- 
ened out  to  care  for  the  horses  and  to  start  David 
Combs  to  Peoria  for  the  doctor.  That  was  a  visit  of 
mercy  gratefully  remembered. 

As  to  Mr.  Stevens'  first  impressions  of  the  site  of 
our  village,  we  will  quote  his  own  words  from  a  news- 
paper interview  published  in  the  Peoria  Journal  in  De- 
cember, 1884.  He  said:  ^^n  the  fall  of  1834  I  was 
driving  along  through  this  part  of  the  "cOUlitry  with  a 
view  of  selecting  a  future  home.  About  a  mile  west 
of  this  place,  on  a  clear,  beautiful  day,  I  was  driving 
my  team  slowly,  looking  here  and  there  at  the  land- 
scape. 

' '  IVhon  my  eye  fell  upon  this  present  site  of  Prince- 
ville,  I  said  to  myself,  'What  a  beautiful  site' — situ- 
ated as  it  was  between  two  belts  of  timber,  and  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  early  settlers. 
They  will  come  here  and  want  to  build  a  town,  will 
need  stores,  shops,  meeting-houses,  etc. 

''The  determination  to  own  it  took  possession  of 
me.  Upon  inquiry  I  was  informed  by  Squire  French 
that  Governor  Duncan  had  the  title  of  it.  I  looked  up 
Governor  Duncan  who  lived  at  Jacksonville  and  pur- 
chased his  right  and  interest  in  the  property,  in  1836. 
The  south  boundary  of  this  quarter-section  is  now 
known  here  as  Canton  street,  and  as  I  wanted  to  lay  out 
a  town  extending  farther  south,  I  tried  to  find  the 
owners  of  that  also,  to  buy  it.  After  some  difficulty  I 
found  them  at  Carthage  and  Rushville  in  this  state. 
They  had  only  a  nominal  title  and  refused  to  part  with 
it  unless  I  would  make  them  partners  in  the  enterprise. 
This  I  consented  to  do.  Their  names  do  not  appear  as 
owners  in  the  town  site  but  they  were  interested.  On 
April  4,  1837,  we  laid  out  the  town.  Phillips  was  county 


32  HISTORY    AND    REMINISCENCES 

surveyor  at  the  time  and  his  deputy,  George  W.  Mc- 
Fadden  did  the  Avork.  When  I  came  I  found  here 
Daniel  Prince,  after  whom  the  groves  nearby  were 
called.  He  had  been  here  many  years  among  the  In- 
dians and  was  an  old  frontiersman.^ 

There  was  at  that  time  quite  a  settlement  in  and 
around  the  two  groves.  Stephen  French  had  settled 
there  some  time  before ;  there  were  a  number  of  ^lor- 
rows  from  Indiana,  Mrs.  Jane  Morrow  and  her  four 
sons,  two  with  families,  Thomas,  James,  William  and 
John.  Her  daughter  Bettie  had  married  Daniel  Prince. 
Doctor  Watters  and  a  widowed  sister  of  Mrs.  Jane 
Morrow,  were  all  settled  on  their  owm  farms,  building 
in  the  edge  of  the  timber.  Mrs.  Jane  Morrow  lived  in 
a  large  hewed  double  log  house  with  a  porch  the  whole 
length  of  the  house.  This  house  was  the  palace  of  the 
neighborhood.  There  preaching  was  held,  for  these 
Morrows  were  godly  people  and  had  already  organized 
a  church,  had  preaching  occasionally  and  soon  hired  a 
Mr.  Babbitt  to  preach  for  them,  Avho  lived  in  a  little 
cabin  north  of  the  grove  where  George  I.  McGinnis,  Sr., 
lived  later.  Previous  to  this,  in  1835,  Mr.  Stevens  was 
again  married  to  a  lady  from  Massachusetts  who  was 
keeping  school  in  Bureau  County,  and  had  removed 
his  family  from  the  Kickapoo  cabin  to  Prince's  Grove. 

Not  long  after  this,  realizing  that  the  education  of 
the  children  was  being  neglected,  a  few  fathers  came 
together,  talked  the  matter  over,  and  built  the  log 
school  house.  At  first  it  was  merely  a  wall  of  logs  with 
roof  and  openings  for  door  and  windows,  and  a  dirt 
floor.  The  seats  were  of  puncheons  with  two  holes  in 
the  ends  and  sticks  stuck  in  for  legs  (Miss  Esther  Stod- 
dard taught  the  summer  school,  a  short  term  attended 
onl}^  by  the  very  little  children,  as  the  older  boys  and 
girls  could  not  be  spared  during  the  summer — the  for- 
mer must  Avork  in  the  fields  and  the  girls,  too,  when 
not  preparing  wool,  carding,  spinning  and  weaving). 
The  first  winter  there  were  over  thirty  scholars,  many 
nearly  grown.  Some  came  three  or  four  miles,  start- 
ing  before   daylight   to   get   there   before   school   was 


WILLIAM   C.   STEVENS,  THE  FOUNDER  OF  PKINCEVILLE  33 

called.  This  school  house  was  used  as  a  church  from 
the  first  for  all  denominations,  making  appointments 
so  that  they  should  not  interfere.  It  was  also  the  vot- 
ing place  at  elections  and  for  a  number  of  years  filled 
an  important  place  in  the  community.  Many  of  our 
prominent  citizens  whose  education  was  mostly  or 
wholly  obtained  there,  have  passed  away. 

Before  this  was  built,  Mrs.  Morrow,  Mr.  Stevens 
and  some  others  opened  their  cabins  for  religious  serv- 
ices whenever  a  preacher  could  be  secured.  Mr. 
Stevens'  home  was  a  well  known  stopping  place  for 
preachers  of  all  creeds,  and  if  one  could  be  induced  to 
stay  over  two  nights,  he  would  get  on  his  horse  and 
ride  around  notifying  people  there  would  be  preaching 
at  his  house  tonight,  asking  all  to  come. 

Hospitality  was  a  virtue  always  practiced  by  the 
generous-hearted  pioneers  and  Mr.  Stevens  was  no  ex- 
ception. The  poor  man  moving  through  the  country 
with  a  tired  wife  and  family  of  children  was  fed, 
warmed  and  sheltered,  even  if  it  meant  great  personal 
discomfort.  He  always  held  that  hospitality  depend- 
ing on  a  person's  convenience  was  not  worthy  the 
name.  Some  notables  were  among  the  wayfarers.  Gov- 
ernor Duncan  often  stayed  over  night  in  the  cabin. 
Bishop  Chase  made  the  home  his  headquarters  when 
in  the  vicinity. 

One  evening  just  after  sunset,  five  men  on  horse- 
back rode  up  and  one  said,  "We  have  been  in  the  sad- 
dle since  early  morning  and  are  cold,  tired  and  hungry. 
We  were  told  that  we  would  get  accommodations  if  we 
got  to  your  place."  He  replied,  "It  is  only  a  little 
cabin,"  but  took  the  oldest  of  the  men  into  the  house 
and  told  his  wife  about  the  other  four.  After  the  old 
man  got  off  his  overcoat  and  turned  to  the  blazing  fire- 
place, she  took  the  first  good  look  at  him  and  he  at 
her.  There  was  mutual  and  joyful  recognition.  It 
was  Father  Dickey  with  whom  she  had  boarded  when 
teaching  school  in  Bureau  County  before  her  marriage. 
His  traveling  companions  were  surprised  to  find  the  old 


34  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

man  Avith  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a  doughnut,  talking  most 
sociably  "vvith  the  pleased  looking  lady  of  the  house. 

These  men  were  returning  from  an  important 
church  meeting  at  Lewisto\ATi :  Father  Dickey,  the 
venerable  minister,  his  son  Lyle  Dickey  (later  Judge 
Dickey  of  Ottawa),  Elder  Eli  Smith,  John  Bryant 
(brother  of  William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  poet),  and 
Owen  Love  joy,  all  of  Bureau  County. 

Four  of  the  men  slept  in  two  beds,  the  mother  and 
children  in  one  bed  and  trundle  bed,  while  Owen  Love- 
joy  and  Mr.  Stevens  lay  on  a  buffalo  robe  before  the 
fire.  After  an  early  breakfast  they  were  started  on 
their  way  rejoicing,  each  man  with  a  carefully  done  up 
lunch  in  his  overcoat  pocket. 

It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  in  those  days  for  Mr. 
Stevens  to  go  twelve,  twenty,  thirty  or  forty  miles  to 
mill — go  with  oxen  and  get  mired  down,  have  to  carry 
the  grist  across  the  slough  on  his  back,  get  the  oxen 
and  wagon  out  the  best  way  he  could,  load  up  and  go 
on.  Nature  furnished  plenty  of  wild  fruits,  berries  of 
all  kinds,  plums  and  crab  apples,  but  our  pioneer  had 
to  give  two  bushels  of  good  wheat  for  one  gallon  of 
molasses  for  the  children  to  eat  on  bread  and  pancakes. 
When  wheat  was  25  cents  a  bushel,  it  took  a  bushel  of 
wheat  to  pay  the  postage  on  a  letter.  For  hundreds  of 
bushels  of  good  wheat  hauled  to  Peoria  he  got  but  30 
cents  per  bushel — later  hauling  wheat  to  Chicago  and 
getting  50  cents,  bringing  back  lumber,  laths  and  all 
supplies.  For  corn  in  the  ear  they  got  7  cents — almost 
no  market  for  potatoes. 

Soon  after  locating  in  Princeville  Mr.  Stevens  set 
out  an  orchard  and  began  preparations  for  building  his 
frame  house.  The  heavy  timbers  for  the  frame  of  this 
were  hewed  in  the  timber  and  the  siding  was  sawed 
from  the  black  walnut  logs,  hauled  by  oxen  to  Prince's 
mill  on  Spoon  River.  The  flooring  was  also  sawed 
from  ash  and  oak  logs  at  the  same  mill.  The  family 
moved  into  the  house  in  1839  and  lived  there  for  two 
years  before  it  was  plastered.  Part  of  the  materials 
for  plastering  were  brought  from  Chicago,  but  as  Mr. 


VVILUAM    C.    STE\^NS,   THE   FOUNDER  OF   PRIXCEVILLE  35 

Cobiirn  wanted  to  get  his  hotel  in  shape  for  business, 
Mr.  Stevens  let  him  have  it.  The  next  supply  went  to 
complete  plastering  the  church.  As  Mrs.  Stevens  said, 
it  would  help  more  people  that  way. 

From  the  first  a  liberal  plan  was  pursued  to  induce 
those  who  would  make  desirable  citizens  to  locate  here, 
offering  a  lot  of  their  ow^n  selection  to  build  on  to  the 
first  storekeeper;  also  to  artisans  of  any  kind.  The 
first  store  was  kept  by  a  young  man,  Elisha  Morrow. 
He  not  only  got  the  lot,  but  Mr.  Stevens  cut  and  hauled 
for  siding  black  walnut  logs  to  Prince's  sawmill  on 
Spoon  River.  The  water  was  too  low  to  run  the  saw 
except  a  little  while  mornings.  -  As  w^as  customary  in 
those  days  all  the  men  in  the  neighborhood  were  asked 
to  come  to  the  raising,  and  the  dinner  on  this  occasion, 
a  good  and  bountiful  one,  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Stevens. 
He  neglected,  however,  to  pass  around  the  demijohn, 
which  was  a  very  unusual  and  unpopular  omission  on 
such  an  occasion.  He  substituted  for  this  hot  coffee. 
The  store  completed,  some  boards  supported  by  the 
sugar  barrel  at  one  end  and  the  salt  barrel  at  the  other, 
did  service  as  a  counter.  There  was  not  a  very  large 
assortment  of  dry  goods,  though  quite  enough  for  the 
place  and  time.  Nails,  coffee,  molasses,  a  little  tea  and 
sugar,  files  for  the  prairie  plow^,  powder  and  shot  and 
tobacco,  were  the  principal  articles  needed  in  those 
days,  as  every  woman  spun,  wove  and  made  the  cloth- 
ing for  her  own  family.  Young  Morrow  kept  store 
about  four  years,  but  trade  w^as  not  rushing  enough  to 
suit  him.  He  came  a  beardless  boy  of  seventeen  with 
a  capital  of  less  than  $200.00  and  went  away  four  years 
later  with  $2,000.00.  He  was  afterwards  senator  from 
Wisconsin  and  worth  half  a  million  dollars. 

Ebenezer  Russell,  the  first  blacksmith,  got  a  lot  on 
which  to  erect  his  shop ;  a  lot  was  given  to  William 
Coburn  on  wiiich  he  built  and  kept  a  hotel.  Lots  were 
given  to  the  Presbyterian,  Methodist  and  Christian 
churches,  the  stone  school  house  and  others. 

The  brick  oven  built  in  Mr,  Stevens'  new  frame 
house,  proved  a  neighborhood  convenience  as  well  as  a 


3ft  HISTORY    AND   REMINISCENCES 

family  comfort.  Such  savory,  steaming,  appetizing 
odors  as  used  to  come  from  that  brick  oven  when  Mrs. 
Stevens  had  her  semi-weekly  baking  days !  It  was  a 
combination  of  everything  tempting  to  the  palate.  It 
furnished  opportunity  for  baking  for  extra  occasions 
to  many  neighbors,  and  Mrs.  Greenfield  and  Mrs.  East- 
man, daughters  of  Stephen  French,  baked  their  wed- 
ding cakes  in  that  capacious  oven. 

While  active  in  securing  home  comforts  and  im- 
provements, Mr.  Stevens  looked  beyond  the  home  and 
saw  much  to  be  done  for  the  community  and  especially 
for  the  children.  They  must  have  schools — he  had  not 
forgotten  the  hunger  for  an  education  of  his  own  boy- 
hood, and  later  his  activity  in  securing  the  means  for 
building  the  first  Princeville  Academy  was  an  expres- 
sion of  his  interest  in  the  education  of  youth.  He  be- 
lieved that  the  church  and  the  school  should  go  hand 
in  hand  in  the  upbuilding  of  a  community,  and  was 
always  ready  to  contribute  liberally  for  this  purpose. 
He  was  always  interested  in  the  progress  and  pros- 
perity of  the  people  and  especially  desired  that  the 
ruling  influences  should  be  along  intellectual  and  moral 
lines. 

Patriotism  was  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  his 
own  life  and  faithfully  instilled  into  the  minds  of  his 
children.  He  made  it  a  part  of  his  religion  and  when 
the  supreme  test  of  loyalty  to  country  came,  three  of 
his  sons  responded  "Here  am  I,"  serving  in  the  Union 
army  with  credit  and  one  laid  down  his  life  for  the 
cause  in  the  assault  on  Vicksburg  May  22,  1863. 

Of  his  seven  children  but  two  are  now  living;  one 
daughter,  Maria  Foster,  died  in  early  womanhood. 
There  are  twenty-three  grandchildren,  forty-four  great 
grandchildren  and  six  great-great-grandchildren,  sev- 
enty-five in  all. 

It  is  due  that  what  a  man  does  well  should  be  re- 
membered to  his  credit.  This  is  simple  justice.  May 
whatever  of  good  was  accomplished  by  this  conscien- 
tious and  faithful  pioneer  live  long  for  the  benefit  of 
this  community. 


WILLIAM    C.    STRV'ENS,  THE    FOUNDER  OF   PRINCEVILLE  37 


A  LETTER  WRITTEN  BY  WM.  C.  STEVENS. 


(Showing  his  careful  English,  and  characteristic 
use  of  long  words.) 

Princeville,  Nov.  18/53. 
Miss  M.  Cutler 

Dear  Madam 

Your  very  kind  &  unexpected  letter 
to  Mrs.  S.  was  duly  reed  pr  last  mail.  As  you  antici- 
pated, it  found  her  too  much  pressed  with  business  to 
allow  her  a  leisurable  opportunity  of  answering  you  as 
promptly  as  she  desires,  and  as  she  thinks  you  deserve. 
Agreeably,  too,  to  your  own  suggestion,  I  therefore  un- 
dertake the  very  agreeable  office  of  responding  to  your 
very  agreeable  communication. 

Add  to  the  multiplicity  of  more  than  imaginary 
cares,  or  mere  fancied  duties,  taxing  the  still  assiduous 
attention  of  wife  her  health  is  perhaps  not  as  good 
now  as  when  you  was  last  with  us ;  at  all  events,  she 
is  now  utterly  unable  to  perform  as  much  hard  work 
as  she  was  then  in  the  habit  of  performing.  Our 
daughter  M.  for  the  last  18  months,  therefore,  has  had 
to  relieve  her  mother  of  most  the  heavier  work  of  the 
family,  and  w^hich  I  am  happy  to  say  she  had  dis- 
patched with  very  approveable  resolution.  Meanwhile, 
little  Hannah,  as  I  call  her,  has  been  kept  pretty  con- 
stantly at  school.  &  is  making  gratifying  progress  in 
every  branch  of  learning  thus  far  taken  in  hand. 
Through  this  fall  season  the  children  have  all  been  at- 
tending two  evenings  every  week  a  very  good  &  effi- 
cient Singing-school — they  are  in  hopes  of  enjoying  the 
privilege  still  on  through  the  winter.  The  girls  take 
lessons  of  the  same  teacher  upon  a  melodion,  which  I 
have  purchased  for  them.  And  although  they  have 
made  as  yet  no  advance  towards  a  graceful  skill  in  this 
pleasing  Art,  yet  we  think  they  already  afford  us  some 
earnest  of  ultimate  success. 


38  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

With  regard  to  Wm.  whether  he  has  been  the  happy 
subject  of  a  Saving  Change,  or  not,  we  can  hardly  sat- 
isfactorily determine.  We  cherish  some  hopes — we  in- 
dulge many  fears. 

There  are  noticeable  among  and  around  us  very 
reconcileable  material  Improvements.  In  this  respect 
we  ourselves  have  measureably  participated  with  our 
neighbours.  During  the  past  year  our  village  has  sus- 
tained &  enjoyed  the  advantages  of,  two  very  satisfac- 
tory &  constant  schools — The  Select  or  private,  taught 
by  a  Miss  Rogers  sister  of  Elizabeth;  the  district,  by  a 
young  gent,  from  0.  Schools  in  neighbourhoods 
around,  seem  rather  to  have  deteriorated  than  ad- 
vanced— competent  teachers  are  not  now  as  numerous 
as  when  you  was  here.  Should  you  return  you  have 
not  signified  whether  it  would  be  your  desire  to  teach — 
We  take  it  for  granted,  however,  that  you  would  not 
utterly  decline  this  most  useful  vocation.  Assuredly 
such  services  are  much  needed  all  around  us.  Others, 
incomparably  less  competent  than  yourself,  readily  find 
employment  at  good  wages.  It  is  true  in  this,  as  well 
as  in  other  business,  empiricks  are  sometimes  best 
patronised. 

Your  proposition  to  Mrs.  S.  of  returning  to  111.  and 
making  a  home  with  us,  rec  d  her  favourable  consid- 
eration, with  the  readily  expressed  hopes  that  on  the 
one  hand  you  would  find  it  quite  as  comfortable  and 
satisfactory  as  formerly,  &  on  the  other,  she  did  not 
see  but  what  you  would  have  it  in  your  power  easily 
&  satisfactorily  to  reciprocate  the  favor. 

Should  you  intend  coming  right  on  this  fall,  please 
lose  no  time  in  advising  us,  &  letting  us  know  whether 
you  want  a  school  during  the  ensuing  winter. 

I  have  not  time  to  write  more — only  to  tender  our 
cordial  respects  and  that  of  family — wife  in  particu- 
lar to  you  and  yours. 

from  your  obt  Servt 

Wm.  C.  Stevens. 


WILLIAM   C.    STEVENS,  THE  FOUNDER  OF  PRINCEVILLE  39 

REMINISCENCES  OF  WM.  C.  STEVENS. 

Peoria  Journal,  Dee.  1,  1884. 
From  Scrap-book  of  Mrs.  Esther  R.  Auten, 


Early  Reminiscences  of  the  Founder  of  the  Town — The 
Origin  of  the  Name — Facts  of  General  Interest. 

Princeville,  111.,  December  1,  1884. — While  strolling 
about  this  pleasant  little  town,  viewing  its  busy  streets 
and  comfortable  residences,  it  was  the  fortune  of  the 
Journal  reporter  to  meet  William  C.  Stevens,  a  promi- 
nent citizen  and  really  the  founder  of  the  town.  He 
was  to  Princeville  what  Romulus  was  to  Rome  or  Queen 
Dido  to  Carthage.  He  is  now  a  man  considerably  past 
four  score  years ;  yet  he  walks  with  a  firm  step,  pos- 
sesses a  remarkable  memory — especially  in  regard  to 
names  and  dates,  and  is  familiar  with  every  detail  of 
the  earliest  history  of  Princeville.  When  asked  the 
origin  of  its  euphonious  name,  and  something  about  its 
first  settlement,  he  replied :  *  *  *  *  (The  part 
omitted  is  largely  quoted  a  few  pages  back  in  the 
sketch  written  by  Mrs.  Moody  and  Mrs.  Hutchins.) 
*  *  *  *  "I  also  went  into  business,  keeping  a  gen- 
eral stock,  and  William  Coburn  started  soon  afterward. 
He  soon  got  himself  a  farm  a  mile  east  of  town,  and  be- 
came a  permanent  settler.  His  family  still  lives  here,  but 
he  volunteered  to  go  into  the  war  at  the  age  of  60  and 
joined  Davidson's  Peoria  Battery.  He  died  with  small- 
pox in  the  latter  part  of  1863  at  New  Orleans.  He  was 
the  second  postmaster  here,  Stephen  French  being  the 
first.  I  had  to  do  most  of  the  business  of  the  office  during 
Mr.  French's  term,  and  part  of  it  for  Mr.  Coburn,  as 
he  was  living  on  his  farm  and  could  not  attend  to  it. 
I  next  became  postmaster  and  performed  the  duties  of 
the  office  for  sixteen  years,  and  in  1866  resigned  vol- 
imtarily,  feeling  that  I  had  done  my  part,  and  realiz- 
ing that  financially  it  was  always  an  injury  to  me. 

"The  first  teacher  of  w^inter  school  we  ever  had 
was  Theodore  F.  Hurd,  who  subsequently  became  the 


40  HISTORY    AND   REMINISCENCES 

representative  from  this  district  and  Stark.  He  was 
then  living  at  Lafayette,  111.  After  him,  Solomon  S. 
Cornwell  taught  the  school.  He  now  lives  about  four 
miles  west  of  Princeville  and  owns  a  farm  of  800  acres. 
He  is  the  father  of  Charlie  Cornwell,  a  young  lawyer 
of  Peoria.  An  academy  was  built  here  in  1857 — the 
building  now  known  as  Fuller's  store.  It  was  24x36 
and  two  stories,  and  considered  a  good  building  for 
those  days.  It  ran  successfully  until  silenced  by  the 
war.  The  ablest  teachers  Princeville  ever  saw  were 
employed,  boys  being  fitted  for  college  in  several  in- 
stances. This  was  the  first  academy  built  in  the  coun- 
ty. I  personally  obtained  every  dollar  of  the  money 
to  build  it  with,  by  subscription,  giving  between  two 
and  three  hundred  dollars  myself,  besides  furnishing 
the  lots.  The  academy  cost  $1,600,00  in  those  cheap 
times,  and  $207.00  only  remained  due  to  the  lumber 
firm  of  Anderson  &  Proctor,  in  Peoria,  when  the  last 
nail  was  driven.  This  I  became  personally  responsi- 
ble for,  asking  that  I  might  be  notified  six  months  be- 
fore they  wanted  it.  Nine  years  afterward  I  asked  for 
the  bill,  which  had  then  amounted  to  about  $400.00, 
and  paid  it.  Many  have  wondered  that  this  place  was 
not  named  Stevensville,  and  I'll  tell  you  why  it  was 
not.  I  read  in  the  scriptures  that  the  worldling  calls 
his  lands  after  his  own  name,  so  I  made  up  my  mind 
not  to  do  so.  I  wanted  first  a  new  name  under  the 
sun — one  never  heard  of  before ;  second,  a  name  that 
would  look  well  on  paper;  third,  one  that  was  easily 
spoken ;  and,  fourth,  one  that  would  be  connected  with 
pleasant  and  agreeable  associations.  In  the  name  of 
Princeville  I  fancied  I  had  all  of  these  qualifications, 
and  consequently  chose  it  above  all  others.  Some 
other  time  I  will  tell  you  more  of  early  days  in  this 
neck  of  the  woods.  You  can't  guess  my  age,  so  I'll  tell 
you  that  I  am  nearer  eighty-eight  than  eighty-seven, 
and  feel  very  bright  for  a  man  so  old." 


THE   MOODY   FAMILY  41 

THE  MOODY  FAMILY. 
By  Miss  Rie  Henry,  1907. 


Ira  Moody  was  born  in  Sandisfield,  Mass.,  October 
18,  1795.  His  father,  a  sailor,  died  when  on  one  of  his 
voyages,  leaving  a  wife  and  three  children.  Ira  and 
his  mother  lived  with  his  uncle,  his  mother's  brother, 
a  Presbyterian  minister.  Ira  was  in  his  fifth  year  and 
as  he  grew  old  enough  to  work,  was  employed  on  a 
farm  near  Sandisfield.  When  21,  or  a  few  years  after, 
he  walked  from  Massachusetts  to  Ohio,  in  search  of  a 
better  opportunity  for  making  a  start  in  life.  Satisfy- 
ing himself  of  the  advantages  of  Ohio  as  a  farming 
country,  he  returned  to  I\Iassachusetts  for  his  mother. 
He  bought  a  tract  of  land  in  the  forest,  cleared  it  and 
became  the  possessor  of  a  good  farm  of  100  acres. 

In  1823  he  was  married  to  Ann  Maria  Reaves,  a 
native  of  New  Jersey.  They  remained  in  Ohio  until 
1839,  when  he  brought  his  family  to  Illinois,  traveling 
w^ith  horses  and  two  wagons.  Seven  children  were 
born  in  Ohio,  Oliver,  Amy,  Henry,  Ira,  Julia,  Talley- 
rand and  Reaves. 

They  w^ere  not  alone  in  their  journey,  for  now  and 
then  a  new  wagon  would  be  added  to  the  train  till 
there  became  a  long  line  of  them.  When  they  reached 
the  eastern  part  of  Illinois  the  creeks  were  very  wide, 
veritable  swamps,  and  the  only  way  to  cross  them  was 
to  hitch  one  team  behind  the  other.  The  line  was  so 
long  that  when  the  first  team  had  reached  the  farther 
side  the  last  one  was  only  starting.  After  a  journey 
of  five  weeks  they  reached  Peoria  County  where  they 
located  on  Section  4,  Princeville  Township.  He  broke 
and  improved  eighty  acres  of  land  and  remained  there 
till  his  death  in  1882,  being  87  years  old. 

His  wife  died  in  1861.  She  was  known  as  a  splen- 
did nurse  and  would  go  anywhere  when  called  upon 
to  care  for  the  sick.  In  these  days  we  wonder  how 
one  with  a  large  family,  as  every  one  had  then,  could 


42  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

think  of  losing  one  moment  of  her  own  time  to  help 
others,  when  we  remember  that  besides  the  regular 
housework  she  spun  and  wove  all  the  cloth  needed  for 
clothing  and  bedding. 

Ira  Moody  was  not  a  large  man,  of  medium  height 
and  build  but  with  a  strong  constitution  and  good 
health  of  which  he  was  careful.  He  was  temperate  in 
all  things;  would  rise  at  an  early  hour,  work  hard  all 
day  and  in  the  evening  enjoyed  taking  his  chair  out 
on  the  la^^Ti  where  it  was  cool;  but  however  warm  the 
evening,  he  never  neglected  to  add  another  garment, 
usually  a  jacket.  He  preferred  to  walk  rather  than 
ride  if  he  wished  to  go  to  town  or  to  a  neighbor's,  and 
he  had  a  system  in  walking.  He  would  say,  ''Never 
go  from  side  to  side  of  the  road  to  find  a  smooth  path, 
it  takes  time  and  strength,  but  walk  straight  ahead 
over  rough  places  and  through  mud  and  water  if  neces- 
sary."  He  was  a  good  marksman,  could  shoot  a  prai- 
rie chicken  on  the  wing  with  a  rifle  when  70  years  old. 
He  took  an  active  part  in  educational  affairs,  holding 
some  of  the  school  offices,  and  was  to\^mship  treasurer 
for  some  years. 

He  was  the  father  of  ten  children,  those  before  men- 
tioned and  Mary  (Mattie),  Charlotte  and  Nathan. 
The  last  two  died  in  childhood  and  were  buried  in 
Princeville  cemetery.  Oliver,  a  prominent  citizen  of 
Princeville  and  vicinity,  and  often  in  public  offices, 
afterwards  lived  in  Chicago.  His  wife,  still  living,  was 
Mary  Stevens,  and  they  had  ten  children.  Sarah  died 
in  childhood,  and  Ella,  wife  of  Dr.  T.  E.  Alyea,  died 
some  fifteen  years  ago.  The  others,  well  known  to 
many  here,  are  Mrs.  Fannie  Tucker,  Mrs.  Julia  Klinck, 
Oliver,  Henry,  John,  Melville,  Mrs.  Maude  Quinu  and 
Miss  Vinnie. 

Oliver  Moody's  brothers,  Henry,  Ira  and  Keaves, 
better  known  as  ''Cap,"  were  among  those  who  went 
west  in  search  of  gold  in  1847-51  with  ox  teams,  their 
trip  covering  a  period  of  three  months.  Henry  and 
Ira  married  in  the  west,  and  there  are  some  children 


THE    MOODY    FAMILY  43 

of  each  living  in  the  west.  Reaves  died  in  the  gold 
country,  a  bachelor,  while  still  young. 

Amy  married  William  Davis  and  died  rather  young, 
leaving  five  children.  Her  youngest  son,  Henry  Davis, 
was  raised  by  his  Uncle  Tall,  and  was  here  on  a  visit 
from  Nebraska  last  winter.  The  other  Davis  children 
were  Mrs.  Lois  Camp  (now  deceased),  Mrs.  Charlotte 
Cottrill  of  Missouri,  and  Theodore  and  George  of  Kan- 
sas. 

Mary  (or  Mattie)  went  to  Oregon  to  visit  Henry 
and  Ira,  and  while  there  met  and  married  a  Mr.  Wm. 
H.  James. 

Julia  (Mrs.  John  Henry)  lives  in  Princeville,  and 
her  children  are  Albert  in  Houston,  Texas,  Bruce  on 
the  home  place.  Miss  Rie,  Mrs.  Blanche  Sheelor  of 
Galesburg,  Miss  Julia,  Sherman  T.  of  Monica,  and  Mrs. 
Sadie  Cornish,  besides  three,  Emily,  Carlisle  and  Mabel, 
who  died  when  young. 

Talleyrand  or  "Tall"  has  the  distinction  of  having 
lived  on  the  same  section  longer  than  any  other  man 
in  Princeville  Township,  sixty-seven  years.  His  chil- 
dren are  Mrs.  Miranda  Graves  of  Duncan,  Mrs.  Anna 
White  and  Miss  Stella. 

Tall  and  Julia,  Mrs.  John  Henry,  are  the  only  mem- 
bers of  the  original  family  surviving. 

TWO  LETTERS. 

One  from  Ethan  Moody  (father  of  Ira  Moody) 
written  to  his  wife  before  embarking  on  his  last  sea 
voyage ;  and  the  other  from  Silas  Jones,  breaking  to 
Mrs.  Moody  the  news  of  her  husband's  death. 

New  London,  Nov.  16th,  1799. 
Dear  M'am : 

I  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  of  writing  to  you 
to  let  you  know  that  I  am  in  good  health  and  spirits, 
hoping  that  you  are  all  enjoying  the  same  blessing,  and 
that  I  like  the  business  as  well  as  I  expected.  We 
arrived  in  this  harbor  Saturday  evening,  having  been 
a  week  from  Middletown.  The  captain,  second  mate 
and  all  the  hands  are  as  agreeable  companions  as  I 


44  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

could  wish.  (Here  something  referring  to  the  first 
mate  seems  to  have  been  written  and  then  scratched 
out.)  None  escaped  being  dam'd  by  him,  but  we  expect 
when  his  brother  comes  on  board  there  will  be  an  alter- 
ation. He  is  hated  by  all  the  ship's  crew.  We  expect 
to  sail  the  last  of  the  week  in  company'  with  the  new 
ship  Yankee  of  Middletown  of  sixteen  six-pounders 
and  several  other  vessels,  as  there  is  near  twenty  sail 
about  ready  for  sea.  In  the  sound  we  met  Mr.  Deming, 
he  having  made  a  good  and  short  voyage. 

Nov.  20.  This  day  Mr.  Eobbins  arrived  and  informs 
me  that  you  are  well  which  gave  me  joy.  I  am  as 
hearty  as  I  wish  to  be  and  my  old  heels  haven't 
troubled  me  at  all.  I  live  verv  well,  have  tea  or  coffee 
twice  a  day  if  we  have  a  mind  for  it,  besides  oysters 
and  clams.  We  shall  sail  by  Saturday  I  expect  and 
perhaps  by  a  Friday.  This  day  seven  vessels  sailed 
for  the  West  Indies.  The  ship  Yankee  will  not  be 
ready  so  soon  as  we  are.  Abijah  Woodhouse  is  as  big 
a  scoundrel  as  ever  lived.  We  had  twenty-four  gallons 
of  rum  put  on  board  at  Middletown  for  vessel's  use 
and  he  has  given  most  part  away  with  what  he  has 
drinkt.  but  the  owners  are  determined  to  have  the 
second  mate  take  his  place.  His  name  is  Ebenezer 
Butler  of  Rocky  Hill,  as  good  a  fellow  as  ever  lived. 
The  Captain  did  not  come  around  with  us.  He  is  a  nice 
man.  I  have  sent  an  almanac  bv  Bobbins.  The  reason 
that  Eemington  did  not  come  was  the  ill  usage  he 
received  from  Woodhouse.  You  need  not  entertain 
fears  concerning  my  treatment,  for  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  I  shall  be  used  well,  and  as  for  my  return  I 
must  leave  to  that  kind  providence  who  is  the  pro- 
tector of  all  mankind. 

My  compliments  to  all  friends  and  I  conclude  sub- 
scribing myself 

Your  affectionate  husband, 

Ethan  Moody. 


THE  MOODY   FAMILY  45 

Baltimore,  March  22nd,  1800. 
Dear  Madam : 

I  am  very  sorry  that  I  have  to  inform  you  of  the 
death  of  your  affectionate  husband.     He  took  passage 
with  me  on  board  the  Schooner  Swan,  at  St.  Thomas 
bound  to  Turks  Islands,  and  from  there  to  Boston,  but 
after  we  arrived  in  Turks  Islands  he  was  taken  down 
very  sick  with  a  putrid  fever.     The  17th  day  of  Feb- 
ruary we  sailed  from  Turks  Islands  for  Boston   and 
then  I  thought  he  was  in  fair  way  for  recovery.     But 
after  we  got  at  sea  he  began  to  get  worse  and  three 
days  after  we  sailed  he  expired,  which  being  the  20th 
day  of  February  at  five  in  the  morning.    I  had  his  body 
buried  in  as  decent  a  way  as  I  could  after  I  had  read 
prayers  over  him.     In  his  sickness  we  paid  the  best 
attention  to  him  we  could.     Dear  madam,  I  am  very 
sorry  for  your  loss,  but  I  hope  you  will  bear  it  with 
Christian  fortitude  and  consider  that  we  have  got  a 
great  Being  that  rules  over  us  that  will  never  take  us 
hence  without  he  thinks  it  is  right  and  then  we  must 
obey  his  summons.     Dear  madam,  I  hope  you  will  not 
take  it  too  hard  but  consider  Mr.  Moody  is  clear  of  a 
troublesome  world  and  I  make  no  doubt  but  he  is  much 
happier  than  he  was  here,  for  I  never  saw  anything  in 
him  but  what  was  upright  and  steady,  and  think  he 
cannot  be  miserable  hereafter.     I  hope  this   example 
of  God's  providence  will  put  us  all  in  mind  that  in  a 
short  time  we  must  follow  your  affectionate  husband. 
I   and  all  my  crew   expected  to   have  had   to   follow 
Mr.  Moody  when  our  vessel  w^as  sinking,  but  Providence 
ordered  it  so  that  we  got  relief  at  the  last  moment  by  a 
vessel  taking  us  off.     So  I  remain,  dear  madam,  with 
respect  and  esteem. 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

Silas  Jones. 


46  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

4 

t 

WILLIAM  HOUSTON  AND  FAMILY 
By  Henry  C.  Houston,  1907. 


Among  the  names  entitled  to  recognition  as  Prince- 
ville  pioneers  are  those  of  William  Houston  and  his 
wife  Sarah  (Chase)  Houston,  who  left  New  Hampshire 
the  latter  part  of  September,  1843,  arriving  in  Prince- 
ville  on  Thanksgiving  day  of  that  year.  This  journey 
of  nearly  1500  miles,  as  the  roads  were  then  laid  out, 
was  made  with  team  and  covered  wagon,  requiring 
fifty-seven  days  to  make  the  trip.  The  late  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Simon  P.  Chase  were  their  traveling  companions. 
Compare  this  journey,  the  time  occupied,  and  discom- 
forts, with  the  present  day  ''Twentieth  Century  Lim- 
ited" with  its  parlor,  dining  and  sleeping  car  accom- 
modations, which  now  spans  this  distance  in  a  trifle 
over  one  day.  William  Houston  w^as  great  grandson  of 
Rev.  Robert  Houston,  who  emigrated  to  this  country 
from  Londonderry,  Ireland,  as  pastor  of  a  colony 
chartered  by  the  King  of  England.  This  colony  located 
upon  a  land  grant  from  the  King,  which  gave  them  a 
tract  twelve  miles  square,  somewhere  on  the  East  shore 
of  the  Connecticut  River  in  what  is  now  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire. 

Mr.  Houston  was  born  in  Temple,  N.  H.,  February, 
1815,  being  the  ninth  child  of  John  and  Ann  Houston. 
At  the  age  of  16  he  started  out  into  the  world  to  earn 
his  owTi  living.  For  a  few  years  he  worked  on  a  farm; 
later  he  worked  in  the  stone  quarries,  getting  out 
material  for  foundations  of  the  great  cotton  mills  of 
Lowell.  Reports  of  the  opportunities  which  the  then 
far  West  offered  to  young  men  of  limited  means,  led 
to  a  decision  to  emigrate  to  the  Prairie  State.  On 
September  25th,  1842,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Sarah  Chase  (she  being  a  niece  of  the  late  Wm.  C. 
Stevens)  and  a  few  days  later  they  started  on  the 
journey  Westward  to  the  land  that  was  to  be  their 
future  home. 


SIMON   P.   CHASE  AND   FAMII.Y  47 

Three  years  after  coming  to  Illinois  they  bought 
the  farm  on  which  the  Akron  town  house  stands,  which 
they  improved  and  which  was  their  home  for  over  fifty 
years,  the  home  in  which  both  died.  ]\[rs.  Houston 
died  May,  1899,  her  husband  following  her  in  Decem- 
ber, 1901.  Their  bodies  now  rest  from  their  labors  in 
the  beautiful  cemetery  Northwest  of  our  Village.  To 
them  were  born  three  sons,  Henry  C.  residing  half  a 
mile  from  the  old  homestead ;  William  A.  living  near 
Allerton,  Iowa;  and  Charles  S.  who  was  born  and  has 
spent  his  life  thus  far  on  the  home  farm.  During  the 
early  years  they  experienced  the  usual  hardships, 
privations  and  the  practice  of  rigid  economy  incident 
to  those  times.  Theirs  was  the  experience  of  the 
average  early  settler, — nothing  striking  or  of  public 
interest.  It  was  their  effort  to  meet  and  discharge 
the  daily  duties  or  heroically  to  meet  the  disappoint- 
ments and  trials  of  pioneer  life.  Their  hearts  and 
homes  were  ever  open  to  the  belated  traveler,  and  their 
sympathy  and  services  were  promptly  and  heartily 
given  to  any  fellow  pioneer  in  sorrow  or  distress.  They 
were  a  part  of  that  grand  army  whose  strength  of  head, 
heart  and  hand  was  given  to  develop  the  territory  now 
included  in  this  association. 


SIMON  P.  CHASE  AND  FAMILY. 
By  Mrs.  S.  C.  Eldred,  1907. 


The  first  paternal  ancestor  of  Simon  P.  Chase  in 
America,  was  Aquila  Chase,  who  wdth  his  brother 
Thomas  emigrated  from  Chesham,  England  in  1639  (a 
brother  William  coming  nine  years  prior),  settling  first 
at  Hampton,  Mass.,  later  removing  to  Newbury  and 
Sutton ;  great-grandsons  migrating  to  the  Connecticut 
River  settled  on  a  tract  of  new  land  and  laid  out  the 
town  of  Cornish,  N.  H. 

The  lineal  descent  of  this  branch  of  the  family  in 
America  is  as  follows:      Aquila  (1),  Moses  (2),  Daniel 


48  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

(3),  Samuel  (4),  Samuel  (5),  Peter  (6),  Peter  (7), 
Simon  Peter  (8)  (the  ancestry  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Chase 
Houston  being  the  same).  Simon  P.  (8)  Chase  was  the 
son  of  Peter  (7)  Chase  and  Martha  Stevens,  his  wife; 
he  was  born  in  Cornish,  N.  H.,  January  28th,  1812 ;  was 
married  at  Orange,  N.  H.,  April  1st,  1838,  to  Miss  Ann 
Houston,  daughter  of  John  Houston  and  Ann  Moore, 
his  wife,  of  Temple,  N.  H. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chase  and  little  daughter  Martha  in 
company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Houston  removed 
to  Illinois  in  1842  and  shortly  after  bought  land  two 
and  one-half  miles  East  of  Princeville  and  built  a  cabin 
home. 

Three  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chase, 
two  daughters  and  a  son ;  the  daughters  are  Mrs. 
Martha  A.  Harbaugh  of  Red  Oak,  Iowa,  and  Mrs.  Sarah 
C.  Eldred  of  Roseville,  Illinois;  the  son,  Mr.  Philander 
H.  Chase,  a  well  known  citizen  of  this  community,  re- 
sided during  his  life  on  the  farm  where  he  was  born ; 
he  died  March  5,  1899.  Mr.  Simon  Chase  passed  from 
this  earthlife  January  9,  1870,  and  his  wife  five  years 
later,  all  of  whom  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  Princeville 
Cemetery. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chase  early  united  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Princeville,  which  at  that  time  wor- 
shipped in  the  old  log  school  house ;  they  helped  accord- 
ing to  their  ability  in  the  building  of  the  first,  and  also 
of  the  present  church  edifice,  and  joined  heartily  in 
the  rejoicings  on  the  completion  and  dedication  of 
each.  They  were  faithful  in  church  attendance,  and 
devoted  to  the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom  during 
life;  Mr.  Chase  being  elected  to  the  office  of  Ruling 
Elder  ''ever  used  said  office  well."  Mrs.  Chase,  who 
possessed  a  good  voice  for  singing  and  had  received 
training  under  the  best  teachers  of  New  England  in 
that  day  in  harmony  and  sight-reading,  used  her  voice 
in  the  service  of  song  in  the  church,  and  taught  the 
young  people,  sometimes  meeting  them  in  the  ''Singing 
School"  held  in  the  Morrow  school  house  and  some- 
times in  her  home.    A  few  years  later  a  musical  society 


THE  COKNWELL  FAMILY  49 

was  formed  and  "Sings"  or  in  modern  phrase 
"Miisicales"  were  held  in  the  homes  of  music-loving 
families,  which  were  a  source  of  culture  as  well  as 
social  pleasure  to  the  young  people. 

In  1852  Mr.  Chase  bought  a  piece  of  land  near  by 
on  which  was  a  more  commodious  house ;  into  this  the 
family  moved  from  the  cabin  home,  and  in  the  vacated 
cabin  the  first  public  school  in  District  No.  5,  Akron 
Township,  was  held  in  the  winter  of  1852-3,  Miss  Sarah 
Farwell  being  the  teacher. 

The  privations  and  difficulties  incident  to  pioneer 
life  of  that  day,  such  as  failure  of  crops,  prairie  fires, 
bad  roads,  distance  from  markets,  lack  of  legal  cur- 
rency or  coin  (most  of  the  marketing  being  in  the  form 
of  barter,  a  farmer  with  his  produce  might  supply  his 
family  with  sugar  and  shoes,  but  found  it  a  poor 
medium  with  which  to  pay  taxes  or  postage  on  let- 
ters) ;  all  these  Mr.  Chase  encountered  with  manful 
courage  and  patience,  saying  in  facing  them,  "Well, 
well,  it  will  be  better  by  and  by." 

Those  early  settlers  saw  many  rewards  for  their 
privations  and  arduous  toil,  in  the  advancement  and 
development  of  the  country ;  and  may  we  not  say  they, 
under  God's  guiding  hand,  helped  to  "Make  the  wilder- 
ness and  solitary  place  glad  for  them,  and  the  desert 
to  blossom  as  the  rose,  and  to  rejoice  with  joy  and 
singing." 


THE  CORNWELL  FAMILY. 
By  Wm.  E.  Elliott,  1907. 


Solomon  S.  Cornwell  was  born  in  Duchess  County, 
New  York,  July  8,  1808.  His  father,  Job  Cornwell,  was 
a  native  of  the  same  county,  and  was  son  of  Jonathan 
Cornwell,  also  of  Duchess  County,  and  a  grandson  of 
Lot  Cornwell,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution.  The 
father  of  Lot  Cornwell  came  from  England  as  an  officer 


50  HISTORY   AND  REMINISCENCES 

in  the  English  army;  but  in  the  beginning  of  the 
struggle  between  the  colonists  and  the  mother-country, 
he  left  the  British  Armv  and  cast  in  his  lot  with  the 
colonists  and  fought  with  them  for  their  freedom.  After 
the  war  he  settled  in  Duchess  County. 

Mr.  Cornwell  obtained  his  education  in  the  district 
schools  and  in  a  Quaker  school  at  Mechanicsville, 
Duchess  County.  After  leaving  school  he  chose  the 
profession  of  teaching  and  was  engaged  at  it  about 
twelve  years  in  Duchess  County,  and  after  that  taught 
in  Long  Island,  and  for  three  years  was  principal  of  the 
schools  where  he  was  stationed.  In  1837  he  went  to 
Monroe  Countv,  New  York. 

In  1838  he  came  to  Illinois,  traveling  by  boat  to 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  by  canal  to  the  Ohio  River  to 
take  a  boat;  but  as  there  were  none  going  down  the 
river  at  that  time,  he  hired  a  skiff.  After  proceeding 
a  short  distance,  however,  he  decided  he  could  make 
better  progress  on  foot,  so  he  walked  to  the  next  land- 
ing  and  waited  there  four  days  for  a  boat,  and  as  one 
did  not  come  he  secured  a  seat  on  a  stage  to  Indiana, 
and  finally  made  his  way  to  Springfield,  this  state. 
He  then  shouldered  his  bundle  of  clothes  and  made  a 
trip  to  the  Mississippi  River,  and  back  to  Farmington 
in  search  of  a  school.  All  this  trip  was  made  on  foot. 
At  Farmington  he  was  referred  to  Princeville.  Here 
he  was  engaged  to  teach,  which  he  did  in  a  log  school- 
house  (the  one  southeast  of  present  Rock  Island  depot) 
with  the  most  primitive  furnishings.  He  found  it  hard 
work  as  there  were  among  the  pupils  several  large  boys 
who  could  neither  read  nor  w^rite.  He  toiled  faithfully 
and  made  a  success  of  his  teaching. 

One  story  that  he  told,  in  after  years,  will  interest 
one  of  the  participants  who  is  here  to-day.  One  of  the 
younger  Stevens  boys  was  untractable,  when  Mr.  Corn- 
well  ''chucked"  him  into  a  barrel  that  was  standing 
in  the  log  school  house.  The  boy  made  no  disturbance 
there.  After  school  Mr.  Cornwell  forgot  all  about  him 
and  was  about  to  lock  the  door,  and  all  the  other 
scholars  were  gone,  when  Mary  Stevens  rushed  at  him 


THE  BELFORD  FAMILY  51 

like  a  bear,  and  said,  ''No  you  don't  lock  my  brother 
in  there."  Going  back  they  found  the  little  fellow 
fast  asleep  in  the  barrel. 

From  Princeville  Mr.  Cornwell  went  to  Fairview, 
Fulton  County,  and  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  the 
academy  as  its  principal  and  occupied  that  position 
for  three  years. 

Mr.  Cornwell  first  settled  in  Princeville  Township 
on  the  Northwest  quarter  of  Section  16,  where  his 
oldest  son  was  born  January  14,  1844.  That  year  he 
built  a  house  and  settled  on  the  Southwest  quarter  of 
Section  21,  which  ever  after  was  his  home  until,  in 
1872-73,  the  large  house  was  built  on  Section  28.  He 
drew  the  lumber  for  his  first  house  from  EUisville, 
Fulton  County,  forty  miles  away,  with  an  ox  team. 

Mr.  Cornwell  returned  to  New  York  and  on  May 
24,  1842,  was  married  to  Miss  Emily  Munson,  a  native 
of  Connecticut.  To  them  were  born  four  children : 
William  H.  or  "Hughes";  Charles  A.,  for  many  years 
one  of  the  useful  attorneys  of  Peoria;  Julia  C.  (Mrs. 
W.  E.  Elliott)  ;  and  Adaline  D.  (Mrs.  Hugh  Crawford)  ; 
of  whom  only  Julia  (Mrs.  Elliott)  survives. 

Mr.  Cornwell  platted  the  Village  of  Monica  on  a 
part  of  his  farm,  and  it  was  called  "Cornwell"  for  a 
time ;  but  later  was  changed  to  Monica,  because  of 
confusion  in  the  mail  with  another  town  of  a  similar 
name.  His  ideals  were  for  a  town  without  liquor,  and 
he  inserted  a  clause  in  his  deeds  designed  to  effectually 
keep  it  out.  Mr.  Cornwell  died  Oct.  4,  1893,  and  Mrs. 
Cornwell  on  Feb.  3,  1895.  Both  are  buried  in  the 
Princeville  Cemetery. 


THE  BELFORD  FAMILY. 
By  George  Belford,  1907. 


Margium  Belford,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  June  6,  1794,  in  Hampshire  County,  Virginia.  He 
resided  there  with  his  parents  until  eighteen  years  of 


52  HISTORY    AND   REMINISCENCES 

age  when  he  enlisted  in  the  war  of  1812.  After  the 
war  he  settled  near  Columbus,  Ohio.  He  w^as  married 
in  Ohio  and  later  moved  to  Peoria,  Illinois,  with  his 
wife  and  two  small  daughters  in  1829.  Soon  after 
reaching  Peoria  death  entered  his  family  and  he  was 
called  upon  to  give  up  his  wife  and  one  little  girl. 
The  other  daughter  grew  to  womanhood  and  married 
Abraham  Frye  of  Richwoods.  Mr.  Frye  died  about 
twelve  years  ago,  and  his  wife  followed  him  to  the 
''Great  Beyond"  about  six  years  later. 

In  1832  Mr.  Belford  enlisted  in  the  Black  Hawk 
War  which  was  then  threatening  our  people.  After 
this  war  he  w^as  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Orr  of  Rich- 
woods  in  1836.  By  his  second  wife  he  had  four  chil- 
dren, namely :  AVilliam,  residing  on  the  old  homestead ; 
Mrs.  Kate  Carroll  of  Ransom,  Kansas ;  Frank  of 
Monica ;  and  George  of  Princeville.  He  resided  near 
Brimfield  for  some  time  and  finally  in  1848  he  entered, 
at  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre,  from  the  govern- 
ment, an  eighty  acre  farm  three  miles  north  of  Brim- 
field.  This  is  still  in  the  family  name,  with  no  trans- 
fers except  from  the  other  children  to  William,  the 
present  owner.  The  farm  has  been  his  home  for  fifty- 
nine  years. 

It  seems  wonderful  at  this  time  to  think  of  the 
changes  that  have  taken  place.  The  writer  remembers 
well,  when  a  little  boy,  going  one  or  two  hundred  yards 
from  the  little  sod  house,  with  a  dog  along  for  com- 
pany, and  seeing  several  "buffalo  wallow^s."  Here  the 
bleached  bones  indicated  where  the  American  bisons, 
possibly  twenty  or  thirty  years  before,  had  got  stuck 
in  the  mud,  or  been  wounded,  and  died.  The  skele- 
tons were  undisturbed.  Prairie  fires  had  often  gone 
over  them — and  speaking  of  prairie  fires  reminds  us  of 
times  when  a  whole  township  would  not  sleep.  The 
whole  prairie  from  the  Belford  farm,  which  was  in  the 
Southeast  corner  of  Millbrook  Township,  and  two  miles 
South  of  it,  off  to  the  Northwest — past  where  Laura 
now  is,  and  clear  to  Rochester — was  sometimes  a  roar- 
ing fire,  burning  off  in   a  night.     This  was  hard  on 


THE  BELFORD  FAMILY  53 

fences.  Back-firing  was  often  resorted  to,  to  save  a 
house  or  a  field  of  corn.  Then  speaking  of  the  pri- 
vations of  the  period,  the  writer  is  reminded  of  the 
winter  nights  shelling  corn  by  hand.  Mother  had  a 
piece  of  tin  pimched  full  of  holes,  rounded  and  tacked 
onto  a  slab  of  wood,  over  the  rough  side  of  which  she 
would  draw  an  ear  of  corn  until  two  or  three  rows  were 
shelled  out.  Then  the  little  fellows  took  the  cobs  and 
finished  the  shelling,  mother  always  keeping  them  busy. 
Quite  a  few  bushels  would  be  shelled  in  an  evening 
and  after  a  few  evenings  there  would  be  a  load  for 
father  to  take  to  Peoria.  When  the  first  hand  sheller 
came,  it  was  a  bonanza,  and  no  one  dreamed  then  of 
the  modern  sheller  w^hicli  the  writer  of  this  sketch 
has  been  propelling  with  a  steam  traction  engine  for 
twenty  years  past ;  not  to  speak  of  the  horse  power 
sheller  which  was  in  use  for  twenty  years  before  that. 
On  the  same  rough  tin  hand  sheller  or  ''grater"  the 
new  corn  at  this  time  of  the  year,  used  to  be  ground  or 
grated  into  soft  meal  for  mush. 

Father  Belford  was  a  typical  frontiersman,  not 
educated  as  the  present  day  goes,  but  rough  and  ready 
and  always  at  home  to  the  traveler.  The  house  always 
had  plenty  of  room  for  strangers  or  movers  going 
across  the  country,  although  there  was  only  one  room 
in  it.  It  made  no  difference  if  a  blizzard  kept  a  large 
family  and  horses  on  their  hospitality  for  a  week.  No 
one  in  those  days  sent  visitors  or  strangers  to  the 
hotel ;  neither  did  they  send  strangers  to  the  livery 
barn,  as  horses  were  one  time  driven  as  far  as  Gales- 
burg  for  the  accommodation  of  some  of  these  strangers. 

Father  Belford  was  accidentally  killed  by  a  horse 
falling  on  him  on  July  6,  1870.  His  wife  lived  quietlj- 
on  at  the  old  home  for  a  number  of  years,  but  finally 
on  June  8,  1878,  she  closed  her  eyes  into  the  sleep 
which  has  no  waking.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Belford  are  both 
buried  in  the  Princeville  Cemetery  Northwest  of  town. 


54  HISTORY   AND  REMINISCENCES 


REV.   ROBERT   FINLEY   BREESE   AND   FAMILY. 

FIRST  PASTOR  OF  THE  PRINCEVILLE 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

By  Charles  Forrest  Cutter,  1907. 


The  name  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Breese  first  appears 
on  the  Minutes  of  Session,  March  26,  1843,  at,  or  about 
which  time  he  entered  on  his  labors  in  this  church. 
He  had  as  his  particular  charge  the  Church  of  Prince- 
ville  and  Rochester,  between  which  he  divided  his  time. 
In  this  field  he  continued  to  labor  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  September  2,  1851.  This,  so  far 
as  is  known,  was  his  first  and  only  field  of  labor.  He 
was  in  regular  connection  with  the  Presbytery  of 
Peoria  and  in  good  repute  with  his  Ministerial 
Brethren.  During  his  ministry  here  he  resided  a  part 
of  his  time  in  this  village  (Princeville),  and  part  of 
the  time  in  Rochester,  where  he  died.  His  remains,  as 
also  those  of  his  wife,  repose  in  the  Princeville  Ceme- 
tery. A  good  head-stone  of  Italian  marble  marks  their 
resting  place.    They  sleep  in  Jesus. 

''The  graves  of  all  his  saints  be  jblest."  ''They  rest 
from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 

Mr.  Breese  was  a  man  sound  in  the  faith,  zealous 
for  the  truth  and  faithful  in  his  ministr3\  He  has  left 
behind  him  an  enduring  memorial. 

Mrs.  Breese,  a  woman  highly  respected  and  valued 
for  her  many  ladylike  and  Christian  qualities,  devoted 
much  of  her  time  to  the  noble  cause  of  Christian  educa- 
tion in  which  work  she  was  largely  successful.  The 
comparative  high  grade  of  education  in  this  neighbor- 
hood is  clearly  traceable  to  her  zealous  and  self  denying 
labors.  There  are  many  who  will  rise  up  and  call  her 
blessed.  She  was  a  pupil  of  Misses  Lyon  and  Grant  at 
Ipswich,  Mass.,  and  seems  to  have  caught  much  of  their 
genial  and  high-toned  spirit.  Mr.  Breese  was  a  grad- 
uate of  South  Hanover  College,  Ind.,  and  of  the  Alleg. 


REV.   ROBERT  FINLEY   BREESE  AND  FAMILY  55 

Theological  Seminary.  He  possessed  a  respectable 
library  and  is  known  to  have  expended  much  labor 
upon  his  sermons.  A  specimen  of  his  sermons  is  pre- 
served in  the  appendix  to  the  ''Session"  Register  of 
the  Princeville  Presbyterian  Church.  Their  home  in 
Princeville  was  the  house  now  occupied  by  Willard 
Bennett  and  family,  which  is  still  sometimes  called  the 
Breese  property. 

Mrs.  Hannah  Cutter  Breese  was  born  August  2, 
1807,  in  the  Cutter  home  of  Pelham,  N.  H.,  and  was 
both  a  first  pupil  and  later  a  preceptress  in  the  famous 
Ipswich  Academy.  In  1840,  in  the  prime  of  life,  with 
a  good  education  and  much  experience  in  teaching,  she 
came  to  Illinois,  taught  in  Macomb  (where  in  18-41  she 
and  her  home  missionary  beloved  were  married), 
taught  on  in  Rushville,  in  Princeville,  1843  or  '44 
(where  her  youngest  brother.  Dr.  Charles  Cutter  of 
Harvard  College  and  the  Massachusetts  Hospital,  Bos- 
ton, had  settled),  and,  about  1846,  she  began  the  well 
known  Seminary  twelve  miles  west  of  here  in  old 
Rochester. 

Hannah  Cutter's  ability  showed  itself  so  early,  when 
thirteen,  that  one  incredulous  teacher  declared  an 
essay  my  aunt  handed  in  in  verse  to  be  a  theft.  She 
answered  by  putting  in  his  desk,  the  next  morning 
before  school,  an  acrostic  on  his  name  that  opened  not 
only  his  eyes  but  also  those  of  her  family  and  friends. 

Thirty-five  years  ago  one  of  her  biographers  wrote 
thus:  ''Of  sterling  worth  and  masculine  energy,  of 
uncommon  literary  attainments,  many  a  noble  woman 
owes  her  strength  of  character  to  Mrs.  Breese 's  teach- 
ing and  training."  Men  and  women  still  live  who 
remember  their  home  being  moved  to  Rochester  that 
they  might  be  trained  in  the  Breese  Seminary. 

Mrs.  Breese  survived  her  husband  less  than  a  year, 
till  April  25,  1852.  The  children  were  David,  a  Union 
soldier,  starved  in  a  Texas  prison ;  Joanna,  1847-49 ; 
and  a  pair  of  twin  boys,  Ambrose  and  Robert  Finley, 
the  last  named  still  living  in  this  state. 


56  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

If,  as  Socrates  said,  "It  is  better  to  write  on  the 
hearts  of  living  men  than  on  the  skins  of  dead  sheep," 
then  this  pioneer  couple  in  their  too  short  lives  of 
evangelistic  work  and  Christian  education  are  worthy 
examples  for  youth  to-day. 

Note  1.  Mr.  Breese  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Madison  June  27,  1838. 

Note  2.  During  his  last  hours  Mr.  Breese  was  par- 
tially deranged ;  but  at  lucid  moments  he  expressed  his 
full  and  unshaken  confidence  in  God's  covenant  mercy. 

Note  3.  Mrs.  Breese.  during  her  last  illness,  gave 
very  decisive  and  satisfactory  evidence  of  Christian 
faith  and  hope.  It  may  well  be  said  of  her  ''To  live 
was  Christ,  to  die  was  gain." 

Her  diary  gives  many  signal  proofs  of  her  close 
self-inspection  and  of  her  devotion  to  her  chosen  work. 

She  has  left  specimens  of  poetry  which  evince  no 
small  degree  of  literary  taste  and  genius. 

Note  4.  The  "Massachusetts  Teacher"  of  185— 
contains  an  extended  biography  of  Mrs.  Breese.  under 
the  title,  "The  Ardent  Scholar  and  Benevolent 
Teacher." 


KEY.  ROBERT  CAMERON,  AND  DAUGHTER, 
MISS  AGNES  CAMERON. 

By  Louis  Auten,  1907. 


Reverend  Cameron  has  said  that  it  was  through  the 
direction  of  Divine  Providence  that  he  came  to  this 
community,  and  no  one  who  has  been  acquainted  with 
him  and  the  good  he  has  done  here  thinks  differently. 

It  was  in  the  hopes  of  regaining  his  health,  and  pro- 
longing his  life,  and  to  place  his  daughters  in  the  fam- 
ily of  their  oldest  brother  Peter,  who  lived  at  Henry, 
Illinois,  that  Robert  Cameron  came  to  America  from 
near  Glasgow,  Scotland,  in  1842,  with  his  two  daugh- 
ters Agnes  and  Annie.    The  daughter  Annie  was  mar- 


REV.   ROBERT  CAMERON  AND  DAUGHTER  57 

ried  soon  after  coming  to  America,  so  the  father  and 
one  daughter  lived  alone  with  each  other  until  his 
death. 

They  made  their  home  in  New  Jersey  for  nine  and 
one-half  years  when  they  came  to  this  community, 
going  from  New  York  to  Buffalo  by  canal,  and  from 
Buffalo  to  Chicago  by  lake  steamer,  the  whole  trip 
taking  about  two  weeks.  The  family  had  engaged 
passage  on  the  steamer  "James  Griffith,"  but  a  break 
in  a  canal  lock  delayed  them  so  they  missed  their  boat, 
and  on  that  very  trip  the  "James  Griffith"  was  burned 
and  all  the  passengers  lost.  Mr.  Cameron  saw  in  this 
delay  another  instance  of  the  intervention  of  the  Divine 
Providence  in  which  he  had  so  much  faith.  The  father 
and  daughter  intended  to  make  their  home  at  Racine, 
Wisconsin,  but  came  to  this  community  first  to  see  an 
old  friend,  Mr.  Buchanan,  who  lived  Northw^est  of  here, 
and  as  Mr.  Cameron  saw  great  need  of  his  services 
here,  they  stayed  and  made  this  their  home.  Their 
first  Princeville  home  was  with  Alexander  Buchanan 
and  family  in  a  little  frame  building  that  stood  where 
Mrs.  Shane's  house  now  is.  They  lived  there  for  only 
a  short  time,  after  which  they  made  their  home  with 
different  ones  of  his  parishioners. 

For  a  year  and  a  half  Mr.  Cameron  assisted  Eev. 
Breese  in  his  charge,  but  on  the  death  of  the  pastor, 
the  charge  was  given  to  Rev.  Cameron.  He  preached 
his  first  sermon  in  Princeville  on  his  birthday,  Julj^  7, 
1852,  and  preached  three  times  every  Sunday,  almost 
until  the  time  of  his  death.  He  founded  a  church  at 
West  Princeville,  and  walked  over  there  every  Sunday 
afternoon  and  then  walked  back  to  preach  his  evening 
sermon  here.  His  Princeville  church  was  a  small  frame 
building  that  stood  where  Cheesman's  store  now  is. 
He  conducted  the  first  Thanksgiving  service  ever  held 
in  Princeville,  and  contrary  to  the  expectations  of 
some  of  his  friends  who  advised  him  not  to  undertake 
it,  the  church  was  crowded. 

Though  Mr.  Cameron's  object  in  coming  to  America 
was  partly  to  be  in  the  home  of  his  eldest  son,  he  was 


58  HISTORY   AND  REMINISCENCES 

never  able  to  accomplish  this,  as  the  son  was  drowned 
on  a  log  raft  in  the  Illinois  River  about  the  time  the 
family  came  to  America,  and  it  was  six  years  before 
they  could  find  out  what  had  become  of  him,  or  if  he 
were  still  living.  Many  of  the  older  people  still  speak 
of  Reverend  Cameron.  They  remember  him  as  a  small 
white  haired,  frail  man,  old  beyond  his  years,  feebly 
walking  to  his  scattered  charges,  and  preaching  at 
times  when  he  was  so  exhausted  that  he  could  not 
stand.  He  worked  beyond  all  human  endurance  and 
died  an  old  man  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven. 

Agnes  Cameron,  or  as  she  was  known  to  all  her 
acquaintances,  "Auntie  Cameron,"  has  lived  alone 
since  her  father's  death  thirty-three  years  ago,  and  is 
now  at  the  age  of  eighty-three,  keeping  house  for  her- 
self;  waited  on  to  some  extent  by  kind  neighbors,  but 
more  than  repaying  all  that  is  done  for  her,  by  the 
warmth  of  the  love  which  she  bestows  on  her  friends. 


THE  DEBORD  FAMILY. 
By  Louis  Auten,  1907. 


Believing  that  a  new  country  offered  greater  possi- 
bilities for  a  young  man  of  twenty-one,  than  his  o^vn, 
Reuben  R.  Debord  left  Kentucky  in  the  fall  of  1839  for 
Princeville  where  an  old  friend  of  his,  John  Miller, 
had  established  his  home.  Mr,  Debord  traveled  this 
distance  on  horseback  and  alone,  and  on  his  arrival  at 
Mr.  Miller's  he  owned  less  than  a  dollar  in  money,  and 
no  property  except  his  horse  and  the  clothes  he  wore. 
He  made  his  home  with  Mr.  Miller,  who  lived  in  a  cabin 
one  mile  north  and  about  four  and  a  half  miles  west 
of  Princeville,  worked  for  his  board,  and  broke  some 
land  for  himself.  At  a  large  religious  meeting  con- 
ducted by  Bishop  Chase  in  the  grove  (Princeville)  at 
the  cabin  school  house,  he  met  Miss  Julia  Ann  Hall, 
to  whom  he  was  married  in  1843. 


the;  debord  family  59 

Miss  Hall  was  also  a  pioneer,  having  come  to  Prince- 
ville  in  the  winter  of  1840,  with  her  mother  and  brothers 
and  sisters.  Her  oldest  brother,  Warren,  who  had  been 
head  of  the  household  for  several  years,  came  to  Prince- 
ville  in  1837,  and  deciding  to  make  this  his  home,  he 
had  a  wagon  made,  and  sent  one  of  his  neighbors. 
Reeves  Sherman,  back  to  Ohio  to  bring  the  family. 
The  wagon  was  loaded  with  bedding,  a  table,  one  or 
two  chairs,  and  the  head  and  foot  pieces  of  a  bedstead, 
and  the  family  started  in  January  for  Illinois.  There 
were  ten  in  the  company,  of  whom  three  were  quite 
young,  so  the  older  ones  had  to  walk.  Julia  was  four- 
teen years  of  age,  but  young  as  she  was,  she  walked 
practically  all  the  way  from  Ohio  to  Illinois.  They 
traveled  every  day,  but  always  timed  their  progress  so 
that  they  never  had  to  spend  a  night  in  the  open,  but 
always  slept  at  some  house  or  hotel.  They  took  food 
with  them,  and  on  their  arrival  at  their  stopping  places 
they  prepared  their  meal  in  the  kitchen,  and  made  up  a 
large  bed  with  their  own  bedding,  on  the  floor.  There 
were  no  bridges  at  that  time,  and  the  rivers  presented 
difficulties,  but  the  movers  were  usually  able  to  cross 
on  flat-boats  or  ferries,  though  at  times  they  had  to 
unload  their  wagon  and  swim  the  horses  over,  and  take 
their  bedding  and  furniture  in  canoes.  They  arrived 
at  Princeville  in  March,  tired  but  in  good  spirits,  and 
made  their  home  in  a  cabin  which  stood  where  Sam 
Morrow  now  lives.  The  next  year  they  moved  to 
Shiloh,  or,  as  it  is  known  today,  the  Belltree  neighbor- 
hood, where  Julia  lived  until  her  marriage. 

Mr.  Debord  and  Miss  Hall  were  married  at  her  home 
in  Shiloh  by  Squire  Tucker.  They  kept  house  in  the 
same  cabin  with  George  I.  McGinnis  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  north  of  Princeville,  until  Mr.  Debord  built  for 
himself.  They  had  eleven  children,  all  of  whom  are 
living,  and  six  of  them  still  reside  in  this  vicinity. 
Mrs.  Debord  says  with  commendable  pride,  "I  have 
eleven  children  and  they  are  all  living;  they  have 
always  had  enough  to  eat,  they  have  all  gone  to  school, 
and  I  haven't  one  to  spare."     This  is  certainly  a  re- 


60  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

markable  record,  and  it  speaks  well  for  the  ability  of 
these  pioneer  parents  who  were  able  to  do  for  so  large 
a  family.  We  of  a  younger  generation  wonder  how 
our  forefathers  managed  to  make  a  living,  and  how 
our  grandmothers  were  able  to  do  all  the  housework, 
without  our  modern  conveniences.  But  Mrs.  Debord 
says:  ''Yes,  we  were  busy  then,  but  we  didn't  have 
as  much  to  do  as  the  women  do  now.  A  one  room  cabin 
was  not  hard  to  keep  clean,  and  it  was  no  task  at  all 
to  dust  the  furniture.  We  had  to  make  our  own 
clothes,  but  each  garment  lasted  us  several  years,  and 
there  was  not  much  washing  and  ironing."  Mr.  Debord 
was  a  farmer  and  stock  raiser  all  his  life.  He  was  a 
good  judge  of  stock  and  of  land,  careful  of  his  expendi- 
tures and  investments,  and  moderate  in  his  manner  of 
living.  This  was  the  secret  of  the  success  of  the  family, 
they  were  contented  and  satisfied  with  what  they  had, 
and  so  what  they  had  was  enough ;  and  who  will  doubt 
but  what  they  were  as  happy  as  any  family  that  stayed 
in  its  more  comfortable  Eastern  home? 

The  children  are  as  follows,  in  the  order  of  their 
birth :  William  H.,  Charles  W.,  Henry  A.,  Emily  now 
Mrs.  George  Gladfelter,  Frank,  A.  Burke,  George  Fred- 
erick, Mary  now  Mrs.  Hurd,  Ella  M.  now  Mrs.  Elroy 
Wear,  Hattie,  and  Clara  now  Mrs.  Sanford.  Six  of 
these  are  still  living  in  this  vicinity,  three  are  in  Mis- 
souri, one  in  Iowa,  and  one  in  California.  All  married 
except  Hattie  who  lives  with  her  mother  and  is  still 
single.  Of  those  residing  near  here,  the  three  men 
Henry,  Frank  and  Burke,  are  engaged  in  farming  and 
stock  raising. 

Reuben  R.  Debord  died  in  1891  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three,  but  his  wife  is  still  living — loved  and 
respected  by  her  eleven  children,  thirty-three  grand- 
children and  thirteen  great-grandchildren.  Her  days 
of  activity  perhaps  are  passed,  but  not  her  days  of 
usefulness,  for  as  long  as  she  lives  she  will  be  a  help 
and  an  inspiration  to  all  who  know  her. 


FOURTH   OF  JULY  CELEBRATION   AT  PRIXCEVILLE  IN    1844  61 

FOURTH  OF  JULY  CELEBRATION  AT 
PRINCEVILLE  IN  1844. 

Princeville  Telephone,  July  2,  1885. 

Written  by  Mrs.  Esther  R.  Auten. 


This  celebration  was  an  impromptu  affair,  the  first 
we  have  any  account  of,  and  no  preparation  whatever 
was  made  for  it  till  that  very  morning.  We  will  first 
name  the  people  who  lived  here  then  and  describe  the 
town.  AVm.  C.  Stevens,  Benjamin  Slane,  Ashford 
Nixon,  Ebenezer  Russell,  Dr.  Charles  Cutter,  Hiel 
Bouton,  Geo.  McMillen,  Sam'l  Alexander,  Seth  Fulton, 
and  a  few  others  were  its  sole  inhabitants.  The 
Blanchard's,  Auten 's  and  Bliss's  w^ere  here  then,  but 
lived  a  few  miles  in  the  country.  The  Henry's,  Mr. 
Owens  and  George  Hitchcock  were  not  here  as  yet. 
Mr.  Stevens  lived  where  he  always  did,  north  of  the 
public  square.  Mr.  Russell  lived  where  the  American 
House  now  stands.  Dr.  Cutter  lived  in  a  little  red  house 
in  the  Hitchcock  block.  'Squire  Slane  lived  down  South 
of  where  the  flouring  mill  stood.  Hiel  Bouton  is  the 
only  citizen  now  living  who  remains  on  the  same  old 
place.  North  of  the  Stevens  block. 

All  the  children  in  the  town  and  surrounding  coun- 
try went  to  school  in  a  log  cabin  that  stood  in  the  edge 
of  the  grove  South  and  West  of  Daniel  Hitchcock's 
residence.  When  Mrs.  Olive  Cutter  was  teacher,  there 
were  seventy  scholars  to  pack  away  in  it.  Belle  Russell 
and  Kate  Clussman  used  to  take  classes  out  in  the  grove 
and  hear  them  recite  under  booths  manufactured  of 
hickory,  elm  and  oak  boughs  and  saplings.  Solomon 
Cornwell  was  teacher  at  one  time,  and  some  large  bad 
boys,  who  had  run  two  or  three  teachers  off,  commenced 
their  performances.  One  day  he  jerked  one  of  them 
up  before  the  fire  place,  and  said  to  him:  "By  the 
gods,  I'll  throw  you  on  that  fire  if  you  don't  behave 
yourself."     The  fellow  was  so  thoroughly  scared  he 


63  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

never  gave  any  more  trouble.  The  boys  used  to  climb 
tall,  slim  trees  and  bend  them  over  for  a  swing.  One 
day  they  got  hold  of  a  stiff  one.  The  boys  slipped  off, 
and  John  McGinnis  was  thrown  off  in  the  air,  landed 
on  a  log,  and  came  off  with  a  broken  thigh. 

On  this  glorious  Fourth  the  sun  rose  without  a 
cloud.  People  were  astir  early,  as  the  men  were  going 
to  Peoria  to  a  celebration  there,  and  to  hear  a  distin- 
guished speaker  whose  name  we  failed  to  learn.  At 
about  7  :30  a.  m.  the  four  horse  teams  began  to  come  in, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  some  six  or  eight  wagons  were 
loaded  and  started  off  for  Peoria.  The  women  and 
children  collected  at  the  four  corners  North  of  Hitch- 
cock's Hall  to  see  them  off,  and  as  the  procession  rode 
away  and  the  good-byes  were  said,  some  one  said : 
''Why  can't  we  have  a  celebration?"  A  consultation 
was  held  immediately  and  the  matter  was  soon  decided. 
Everyone  promised  to  bring  something  for  dinner,  and 
Mrs.  Russell's  large  kitchen  was  selected  as  the  place 
to  dine.  Mrs.  Sloan  and  Mrs.  Wm.  Coburn  were  sent 
for  a  mile  East  of  town,  where  they  were  neighbors, 
to  come  and  help  celebrate.  Children  were  sent  West 
of  town  to  pick  raspberries. 

For  a  flag.  Dr.  Cutter,  who  was  the  only  man  left 
in  town,  and  the  children  manufactured  one  with 
neither  stripes  nor  stars,  and  nailed  it  to  a  fence  post 
near  Russell's  house. 

The  supplies  began  to  come  in  at  about  one  o'clock, 
and  dinner  was  served  at  two.  There  were  ten  or 
twelve  grown  persons  and  about  twenty-five  children 
present.  The  Doctor  made  a  speech  of  congratulation 
after  dinner,  and  it  was  found  that  there  were  some 
sixteen  or  eighteen  varieties  of  food  provided,  and 
enough  was  left  to  feed  another  company  as  large.  The 
afternoon  was  spent  in  having  a  social  good  time,  and 
instead  of  a  day  of  loneliness,  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, it  proved  one  that  never  has  been  forgotten  by 
those  who  participated  in  its  pleasures. 


LETTER   FROM    MRS.    SARAH    B.    ANDREWS  63 


LETTER  FROM  MRS.  SARAH  B.  ANDREWS. 


Hanford,  Calif.,  Sept.  8,  1908. 

To  the  Old  Settlers  Association  of  Princeville, 
Greetings : 

Having  been  invited  by  a  member  of  your  associa- 
tion to  write  something  of  a  reminiscent  nature  for  this 
meeting,  I  comply  in  the  hope  that  the  genuine  love  in 
my  heart  for  Princeville  and  Princevillians  may  atone, 
in  some  measure,  for  the  uninteresting  manner  in  which 
it  may  be  written. 

Born  and  reared  within  three  miles  of  Princeville 
and  living  there  all  my  life,  except  the  three  years 
spent  in  California,  is  it  any  wonder  there  is  not  and 
never  can  be  any  other  spot  half  so  dear?  My  first 
recollection  of  Princeville  is  going  there  one  time  with 
my  father  and  mother  to  attend  a  funeral.  Aunt  Susan 
Debolt's  mother's.  I  think  I  must  have  been  five  or  six 
years  old  at  that  time.  I  remember  a  very  large  and 
crooked  tree  standing  very  near  the  road,  about  where 
Lute  Blanchard  now  lives,  and  bending  so  far  over  the 
road,  I  thought  it  would  surely  fall  upon  us.  I  wonder 
if  anj"  of  the  others  remember  that  tree.  It  stood  a 
number  of  vears  after  that. 

Also  I  remember  of  attending  school  in  the  old 
stone  school-house  when  Mrs.  Dr.  Cutter  taught  and 
of  the  "scraps"  we  little  girls  used  to  have  with  Charlie 
Cutter  who  was  an  inveterate  tease ;  also  of  attending 
church  in  the  same  stone  school-house.  Later  mem- 
ories of  the  dear  old  Academy  days  with  Prof.  Stone 
and  wife,  Prof.  Means  and  others  at  the  helm  are  still 
cherished,  and  I  think  many  of  the  Old  Settlers  will 
never  forget  the  old  Methodist  Church  when  in  the 
early  Sixties  so  many  of  our  best  young  men  responded 
so  nobly  to  our  country's  call  to  arms;  and  then,  too, 
who  of  us  could  forget  the  sad,  sad  days  which  followed 
when  from  the  old  Christian  Church  we  paid  our  last 


64  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

tribute  of  respect  and  honor  to  Capt.  French,  Charlie 
Stevens,  Charlie  Alter  and  others. 

Ah,  those  days  were  fraught  with  memories,  never 
to  be  forgotten,  and  although  a  good  many  decades 
have  passed  since  then  they  are  ever  fresh  in  our 
memories,  and  will  go  with  us  thro  life  and  help  to 
forge  the  chain  which  binds  us  so  indissoluably  to- 
gether. I  have  so  often  wished  the  Old  Settlers  Picnic 
Association  might  have  been  formed  before  w^e  left  for 
California's  sunny  clime,  but  as  it  was  not,  we  still 
rejoice  with  you  in  the  happiness  which  comes  to  you 
through  this  medium  and,  in  spirit,  extend  the  "glad 
hand"  to  each  member  of  the  Association.  I  see  in  the 
last  Telephone  you  have  lost  one  member  since  your 
last  meeting;  perhaps  many  more,  I  do  not  know  of. 
I  speak  of  Maud  Charles  Hull  for  whom  many  of  u« 
cherish  very  tender  memories. 

Last  winter  a  year  ago,  while  in  Spokane,  Wash.,  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  with  Morris  Smith  and  his 
good  wife  Emma  and  also  Mr.  Simpson.  We  talked 
much  of  Princeville  friends  and  of  how  we  could  enjoy 
the  Old  Settlers  Picnic.  Also  met  young  Dr.  Hutchins, 
Hannah  Stevens  Hutchins'  son,  and  he  read  me  his 
mother's  letter  telling  of  the  picnic  as  she  was  there. 
These  meetings  with  old  friends  in  strange  lands  are 
like  the  perfume  of  sweetest  floAvers.  The  "Illinois 
Contingency"  in  Hanford  number  26  and  are  all  well 
and  apparently  happy.  The  oldest  one,  Grandma 
Blanchard,  who  is  almost  83,  seems  to  be  renewing  her 
youth,  but  often  speaks  longingly  of  the  old  home. 

With  best  wishes  for  a  pleasant  time  Sept.  17th,  I 
remain, 

Sarah  B.  Andrews. 


THE  CHRISTIAN   MILLER  FAMILY  65 

THE  CHRISTIAN  MILLER  FAMILY. 
By  Louis  Auten,  1908. 


One  of  the  largest  families  that  ever  made  their 
home  in  this  neighborhood  was  the  Miller  family. 
Christian  Miller,  born  in  Hamburg,  Germany,  came  to 
America  when  he  was  16  years  of  age,  and  settled  at 
Hamptonsville,  N.  C.  He  was  married  to  Araminta 
Whitehead,  of  Irish  descent.  They  made  their  home 
in  North  Carolina  for  many  years,  and  there  were  born 
ten  children.  Katherine  and  Mary,  who  remained  in 
North  Carolina ;  and  John,  Daniel,  James,  Barbara, 
Henry,  Christian,  Araminta,  and  Lydia,  who  moved 
with  their  parents  to  Kentucky.  Barbara  was  married 
to  a  Mr.  Brown,  and  remained  in  Kentucky,  but  the 
rest  of  the  family  moved  after  8  years  to  Illinois,  stop- 
ping a  short  time  in  Indiana.  It  was  in  the  fall  of  1837 
that  the  Millers,  13  of  them,  reached  Princeville  town- 
ship. They  made  the  trip  in  two  covered  wagons,  each 
drawn  by  four  horses.  Besides  their  horses  they 
brought  chickens  from  Kentucky,  and  eight  milk  cows, 
and  it  is  related  that  when  crossing  the  Illinois  River 
on  the  ferry  at  Lacon  one  of  the  cows  that  had  horns 
forced  a  "mooley"  cow  off  the  ferry  into  the  river, 
but  to  the  relief  of  the  family  she  swam  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  and  landed  safely  far  down  the  river. 

Having  left  Kentucky  to  get  land  that  was  more  open 
for  farming,  but  wanting  plenty  of  water,  and  timber 
sufficient  for  fencing,  the  family  selected  a  site  about 
six  miles  northwest  of  Princeville  for  their  home.  As 
they  arrived  late  in  the  fall,  they  immediately  built  a 
log  cabin,  on  the  farm  that  is  at  present  owned  by  S. 
A.  Walkington,  but  which  was  until  lately  occupied 
by  Edgar  Miller.  They  built  fences,  plowed  the  prai- 
rie, and  laid  the  foimdation  for  a  future  that  would 
be  free  from  want.  The  first  winter  must  have  been  a 
hard  one,  because  they  could  not  have  brought  many 
supplies  with  them,  but  the  prairie  furnished  plenty  of 


66  HISTORY   AND   REMIXISCENCES 

food  for  stock,  and  quail  and  deer  were  plentiful.  In 
fact,  for  several  years,  the  family  ate  no  meat  except 
game  they  killed.  The  head  of  the  family  was  a  tan- 
ner by  trade,  probably  having  practiced  it  in  Germany, 
and  dressed  all  the  deer  hides,  making  clothes  for  his 
children,  and  having  leather  to  sell  besides.  One  win- 
ter three  of  the  boys  made  fence  rails  in  White  Oak, 
walking  six  miles  and  back  to  their  work  every  day. 
They  made  2000  rails  in  the  winter  and  were  paid  with 
rails,  and  provisions  that  had  been  hauled  from  Chi- 
cago. For  years  there  was  no  fruit  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  what  w^as  introduced  at  first  was  not  of 
good  quality. 

In  the  meantime  the  children  were  marrying,  and 
raising  families  of  their  own  on  adjoining  farms,  which 
they  pre-empted  and  got  from  the  government  at  $1.25 
per  acre.  John,  the  oldest  son,  was  married  in  North 
Carolina  and  his  three  oldest  children,  Jacob  L.,  Wil- 
liam Logan,  and  Sally  Ann,  were  born  in  Carolina. 
After  he  came  to  Illinois  other  children  were  born,  as 
follows :  Katherine,  Cloe,  Samuel,  Mary,  Hester  and 
Thomas.  There  are  now  living,  35  grand  children  of 
this  John  Miller,  and  a  great  many  more  great  grand- 
children, though  none  of  them  are  now  in  this  neigh- 
borhood. 

Daniel  Miller  had  two  daughters,  and  there  are  now 
14  grandchildren  of  his.  James  had  two  sons  who  are 
still  living.  John  H.,  of  Palmyra,  Iowa,  who  adressed 
the  old  settlers  at  the  last  picnic,  James  of  Des  Moines, 
and  a  daughter  Harriet  who  died  a  few  years  ago. 
There  are  living  eight  grandchildren  and  fifteen  great 
grandchildren  of  James  Miller. 

Henry  Miller  was  married  in  Cambridge  to  Miss 
Lucinda  Mills,  who  is  also  one  of  our  old  settlers,  hav- 
ing come  to  Illinois  probably  in  1829,  though  she  did 
not  come  to  this  vicinity  until  after  she  was  married. 
To  them  were  born  thirteen  children,  four  of  whom 
died  in  infancy,  but  there  are  still  living  Nancy  Fast. 
James,  Araminta  Springer,  Dan,  Charles,  John.  Jacob, 
Bell   Stubbs  and   Steve.     Mrs.  Lucinda  Miller  is  still 


THE  CHRISTIAN   MILLER  FAMILY  67 

living,  and  is  the  proud  mother  of  nine,  grandmother  of 
seventeen,  and  great  grandmother  of  fourteen.  To 
Christian  Miller,  Jr.,  were  born  Amanda,  (Mrs.  Bates), 
who  lives  at  Normal,  111.,  Edgar,  who  lives  at  Wyoming, 
111.,  and  Albert  of  Albion,  Iowa.  There  are  four  grand- 
children. 

The  only  child  of  Christian  Miller,  Sr.,  who  is  still  liv- 
ing is  Araminta  Shaw.  She  has  eight  children,  one 
of  them  Mrs.  Nancy  Westerfield,  who  lives  near  Dun- 
can, 111.    There  are  about  20  grandchildren. 

The  youngest  member  of  this  generation,  Lydia  Bliss, 
had  eight  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Anna  Newlin  lives  in 
Lovington,  111.,  and  Mrs.  Clarissa  Kellogg  lives  in  Peo- 
ria, 111.,  and  several  of  the  others  in  Iowa.  Thus  it  will 
be  seen  that  Christian  Miller,  Sr.,  had  ten  children 
one  of  whom,  Mrs.  Araminta  Shaw,  is  still  living  in 
Kansas,  53  grandchildren  Avho  grew  up,  probably  about 
90  great  grandchildren  and  certainly  over  a  hundred 
great  great  grandchildren  w^ho  are  now  living. 

The  restlessness  and  boldness  which  made  the  great 
grandparents  move  to  America,  which  made  them  move 
with  their  family  from  North  Carolina  to  Kentucky, 
and  later  to  Illinois,  has  made  the  younger  members 
move  still  farther  west,  so  that  the  family  has  large 
representations  in  Iowa,  Missouri,  California,  Wash- 
ington, and  Oregon.  The  only  ones  that  are  left  in 
this  vicinity  are  Daniel,  Jacob,  John,  who  has  four 
children,  Mrs.  Bell  Stubbs,  and  Mrs.  Araminta  Springer, 
all  children  of  Henry  Miller,  and  their  cousin  Edgar 
Miller,  child  of  Christian  Miller,  Jr.,  and  who  lives  near 
Wyoming  and  has  two  children. 

There  are  buried  in  the  Princeville  Cemetery,  Chris- 
tian Miller,  Sr.,  his  wife,  and  four  of  their  children ; 
Christian,  Henry,  James  and  Lydia.  And  so,  while 
there  is  this  great  family  cherishing  memories  of  their 
childhood  homes  in  Princeville  township,  the  old  set- 
tlers of  Princeville  cherish  memories  of  those  who  had 
such  a  large  part  in  the  settling  of  this  township. 


68  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

THE  MOTT  FAMILY. 
By  W.  W.  Mott  and  Louis  Auten,  1908. 


One  of  the  few  families  that  were  in  this  community 
when  the  village  was  laid  out  by  Mr.  Stevens,  was  that 
of  Mr.  Oscar  Fitzalen  Mott.  He  was  born  in  Erie 
County,  New  York,  in  1806,  and  was  married  at  the  age 
of  about  20  years  to  Deidamia  Bump.  He  was  a  doctor 
by  profession,  located  in  Boston,  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and 
built  up  such  a  large  practice  that  he  could  not  meet  all 
the  demands  upon  his  time  and  strength.  As  he  wished 
to  get  away  from  his  work,  and  as  he  was  naturally  of 
an  adventuresome  nature,  he  started  in  1837  with  his 
wife  and  his  two  boys,  Richard  F.  (age  8)  and  William 
Washington  (age  7)  for  the  new  West. 

They  reached  Princeville  in  the  fall  of  1837,  and  for 
some  years  made  their  home  in  a  double  log  cabin 
belonging  to  Daniel  Prince,  and  situated  in  the  ravine 
Southwest  of  town,  not  far  South  of  where  the  Higbee 
coal  mine  is  now.  This  cabin  was  built  for  a  mill,  and 
in  one-half  of  it  were  the  mill  stones  and  the  power 
wheel,  but  as  Mr.  W.  W.  Mott  remembers  it,  the  mill 
was  never  used  while  they  lived  there.  They  kept  a  few 
pigs  and  a  cow  or  two,  which  sheltered  themselves  in 
the  mill  part  of  the  cabin.  In  this  cabin  were  born 
two  boys,  Oscar  and  Eugene,  both  of  them  dying  in 
infancy. 

The  father  practiced  at  his  profession  as  there  was 
occasion,  but  most  of  his  work  was  charity  work ;  he 
took  what  pay  his  patients  were  willing  to  give.  He 
was  an  ''herb  doctor,"  and  was  quite  successful  in  the 
treatment  of  the  commoner  diseases  of  his  time,  most 
of  which  were  known  as  "chills  and  fever."  There 
were  other  doctors  not  very  far  away,  so  he  was  not 
kept  busy  at  his  practice,  but  spent  the  most  of  his 
time  "working  out."  As  this  left  the  boys  without 
much  to  do,  Washington  rented  a  few  acres  of  ground 


THE  MOTT  FAMILY  69 

and  farmed  for  liimself.  His  older  brother  was  not 
strong  and  did  not  do  much  heavy  work. 

After  a  few  years  residence  in  the  donble  log  cabin, 
the  family  moved  to  about  a  mile  and  a  half  South  of 
the  present  center  of  the  village.  Then  in  a  year  or 
two  more  they  bought  15  acres  of  land  a  mile  South 
and  a  few  rods  East  from  the  present  Postoffice  corner. 

In  the  meantime,  a  daughter,  Josephine,  was  born 
in  1847.  She  grew  up  to  womanhood,  and  is  well 
remembered  by  many  of  those  present.  She  often  came 
to  town  horseback,  with  butter  and  eggs,  and  always 
went  to  the  Seventh  Day  Adventist  services  w^hich  were 
held  at  the  Santee  residence  (the  old  Merritt  Home- 
stead) just  North  of  town,  on  Saturday  afternoons. 
In  the  50 's,  while  Josephine  was  still  a  little  girl,  the 
oldest  son,  Richard,  went  to  California,  and  made  his 
home  there  until  his  death  in  1876.  This  left  only 
the  two  parents  and  the  two  children  at  home,  and  the 
death  of  the  father  in  1863  and  of  the  mother  in  1875, 
left  only  the  brother  and  sister,  Washington  and  Jose- 
phine. Both  were  unmarried,  and  together  they  kept 
up  their  farm,  four  miles  Southeast  of  town,  until  the 
death  of  Josephine,  which  occurred  in  the  fall  of  1902, 
a  very  short  time  after  she  had  been  married. 

William  Washington  Mott  has  always  been  indus- 
trious and  careful,  has  been  able  to  provide  for  his 
needs,  and  content  to  do  without  luxuries.  He  has  been 
successful  at  farming  and  at  bee  culture,  and  has  raised 
some  fruit  for  market.  After  the  death  of  his  sister 
he  lived  alone  at  his  farm  for  three  years,  but  in  1905, 
oppressed  by  loneliness  and  old  age,  he  rented  his  farm 
and  moved  to  town,  and  now  for  the  last  three  years  he 
has  made  his  home  in  a  little  cottage  not  many  rods 
from  the  site  of  the  double  log  cabin  which  was  his 
first  Illinois  home. 

His  life  has  been  subject  to  many  of  the  hardships 
of  pioneer  times,  yet,  at  the  age  of  78  years,  he  walks 
up  town  nearly  every  day  to  talk  over  old  times  with 
his  old  friends,  or  to  tell  his  younger  friends  of  those 
times  that  now  seem  so  far  distant ;  of  the  times  when 


70  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

the  Indians  though  no  longer  a  menace  were  still  a 
dreaded  memory;  when  wheat  was  threshed  by  driving 
horses  over  it  and  was  fanned  only  by  the  wind,  and 
was  hauled  in  Avagons  to  Chicago  and  exchanged  for 
lumber  and  supplies  which  were  hauled  back  by 
wagon;  when  the  best  of  land  could  be  bought  for 
$300.00  per  quarter  section ;  when  tiling  was  unknown, 
and  much  of  our  best  land  was  wet  the  whole  year 
round ;  when  all  travel  was  by  horseback,  and  when  it 
cost  25  cents  to  send  a  letter  to  New  York.  Life  was 
crude  in  those  days — to  us  now  it  would  seem  unbear- 
able— but  men  were  men,  and  women  were  women,  and 
with  their  courage  and  energy  and  moral  uprightness 
they  have  laid  the  foundation  for  this  great  Middle 
West  of  which  the  whole  country  is  so  proud. 


THE  ARMSTRONG  FAMILY. 
By  Mrs.  Rose  C.  Armstrong. 


In  the  early  part  of  the  19th  century,  May  6,  1819, 
were  united  in  marriage,  one  James  Armstrong,  son 
of  James  and  Margaret  Armstrong,  and  Miss  Mary 
McCoy.  They  were  the  parents  of  six  sons  and  three 
daughters,  namely;  Joseph,  born  April  17,  1820;  James. 
Dec.  17,  1821 ;  William.  Sept.  8,  1823 ;  Margaret,  Sept. 
19,  1825;  Eliza,  Dec.  17,  1827;  Mary,  Jan.  30,  1830; 
John,  Feb.  15,  1832;  Martin,  Dec.  18,  1834;  Ebenezer. 
June  22,  1836. 

They  bought  a  farm  and  by  hard  work  and  economy 
had  it  nearly  paid  for  when  Mr.  Armstrong  was  fatally 
injured  by  a  tree  falling  upon  him  and  died  May  22, 
1837,  leaving  the  wife  and  mother  to  provide  for  the 
family,  the  youngest  a  babe  of  eleven  months.  Two 
sons  had  preceded  him.  The  business  affairs  were 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  relative  who  took  six  or  seven 
years  to  settle  the  estate  and  then  took  the  farm  for 
his  pay;  thus  leaving  the  family  in  very  reduced  cir- 


THIC  ARMSTRONG  FAMILY  71 

cumstances.     All  had  to  work  and  help  along  as  soon 
as  they  were  able. 

Joseph,  the  oldest  son,  was  married  to  Martha 
McNeal  March  10,  1841,  and  moved  to  Ohio  County, 
W.  Va.,  where  he  worked  in  a  mill  for  his  uncle,  three 
years,  receiving  only  his  flour  to  use  as  compensation, 
the  wife  supplying  the  rest  of  the  living  by  the  pro- 
ceeds from  her  cow,  garden  and  chickens.  Then  feeling 
competent  to  run  a  mill  he  hired  to  a  wealthy  widow,  a 
Mrs.  Kruger,  who  owned  a  mill,  and  ran  it  for  her  nine 
years,  receiving  the  flour  for  family  use,  a  hog  to 
butcher  each  year  and  a  share  of  the  bran,  shorts,  etc., 
with  which  Mrs.  Armstrong  fed  her  cows,  pigs,  and 
chickens,  continuing  to  be  the  main  support  of  the 
family  while  Joseph's  wages  remained  in  the  hands  of 
Mrs.  Kruger.  When  he  had  been  there  seven  years 
the  lady  owed  him  $970.00.  She  gave  him  a  check  on 
the  bank  for  $1000.00  and  let  him  come  West  on  condi- 
tion that  he  buy  a  farm  and  then  come  back  and  stay 
with  her  two  years  longer  which  he  did.  He  came  from 
that  mill  to  Peoria  County  in  1853,  partly  by  railroad. 
The  rails  were  2V2  inch  wagon  tire,  spiked  on  sills  and 
laid  on  ties,  and  spiked  or  keyed  down  so  the  track 
could  not  spread.  Trains  went  slowly  and  were,  per- 
haps, as  safe  as  trains  are  now. 

He  bought  the  farm  where  the  rest  of  his  life  was 
spent  from  Geo.  Bestor,  but  could  not  find  him  when 
ready  to  pay,  so  left  his  money  with  James  Sutherland 
of  French  Grove,  who  made  the  purchase  for  him.  The 
Sutherland's,  Yates'  and  McCoy's  came  from  Wash- 
ington County,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio  County,  Vir- 
ginia, and  were  old  acquaintances.  He  had  intended 
going  to  Iowa  to  buy  but  they  persuaded  him  to  buy 
here. 

In  those  days  there  was  a  four  horse  stage  run  from 
Peoria  to  Knoxville.  On  this  he  came  from  Peoria  to 
Brimfield  and  returned  the  same  way.  On  the  stage  a 
man  from  California  showed  him  an  eight  cornered 
$50.00  gold  piece.    Quite  a  curiosity. 


73  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

In  the  month  of  February,  1855,  John  Armstrong 
came  from  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania,  with 
four  horses,  making  all  the  trip  on  horseback.  The 
mother  with  the  rest  of  the  family,  excepting  Joseph 
and  James,  came  from  Wheeling  by  boat.  There  was 
much  ice  running  in  the  river  and  they  had  to  tie  up 
nights.  John  reached  here  first.  At  a  hotel  he  was 
given  a  bed  in  which  a  typhoid  patient  had  died,  and 
was  coming  down  with  the  fever  when  he  met  the  rest 
with  a  team  and  wagon  in  Peoria.  They  managed  to 
take  him  as  far  as  Brimfield  where  he  lay  sick  at  a  hotel 
for  a  long  time,  his  mother  staying  to  care  for  him 
while  the  rest  went  on  three  miles  farther  where  they 
rented  a  place.  When  John  was  able  to  be  moved  they 
went  home,  but  Mrs.  Armstrong  had  contracted  the 
disease  and  died  three  days  later,  April  29,  1855,  and 
was  laid  to  rest  in  the  French  Grove  Cemetery. 

During  that  summer  Joseph  had  a  small  1%  story 
house  built  on  his  place  and  the  family  moved  in  in 
September  before  the  house  was  finished.  A  month 
later  Joseph  came  with  his  own  family,  having  sent 
goods  to  Peoria  by  boat  and  moved  the  family  in  a 
wagon.    They  all  lived  in  this  small  house  that  winter. 

In  the  spring  of  '56  the  rest  moved  to  the  Lem  Camp 
farm,  leaving  Joseph  and  his  family  in  their  own  home. 
They  lived  on  the  Camp  farm  three  years,  John  and 
Ebenezer  running  the  farm,  Margaret  keeping  house, 
while  Eliza  and  Mary  became  a  couple  of  the  pioneer 
school  teachers  of  Peoria  County,  teaching  some  years 
in  the  vicinity  of  Brimfield  and  in  Princeville  Town- 
ship. While  not  busy  with  the  farm  work  John  and 
Ebenezer  worked  at  the  carpenter  trade.  With  the 
help  of  a  Mr.  Anderson,  they  built  a  house  where  Mr. 
Abe  Miller  now  lives  and  moved  into  it,  living  there 
three  years.  They  built  the  house  on  the  West  half 
of  Joseph's  quarter,  the  mason  work  being  done  by 
John  Stubbs. 

Into  this  house  they  moved,  having  the  use  of  some- 
thing over  an  acre  of  ground  for  a  garden.  Here  they 
made  their  home  for  many  years,  going  forth  one  by  one 


THE  ARMSTRONG  FAMILY  73 

till  only  Margaret  and  the  waif  she  had  given  a  home 
to  since  she  was  a  baby  five  months  old,  were  left  and 
three  years  ago  last  April  they  moved  to  Monica  that 
they  might  be  near  enough  to  a  church  to  attend 
services. 

Speaking  of  the  early  days  when  this  family  came 
to  Illinois,  Joseph,  or  Squire  Armstrong,  as  he  was  gen- 
erally called,  said  the  prairie  South  and  West  of  his 
house  was  pretty  much  open  and  that  towards  Prince- 
ville  was  only  about  half  fenced.  They  were  obliged  to 
burn  the  grass  about  the  house  in  fear  of  prairie  fires. 
There  were  Oliver  Moody,  B.  Hare  and  James  Debord 
on  the  road  and  Bob  Garrison  about  the  middle  of  Mill- 
brook.  He,  Garrison,  came  very  poor  but  there  was 
plenty  of  pasture  and  by  raising  stock  he  became  very 
wealthy.  The  Carter's  each  had  a  quarter  worth  about 
$600.00. 

The  fences  were  mostly  posts  driven  in  the  ground 
with  a  wooden  drop  hammer  on  which  were  nailed 
three  poles.  Timber  was  hard  to  get  and  he  had  to 
haul  his  first  nine  miles.  Peoria  and  Oak  Hill  were  the 
markets  in  those  days. 

The  first  school  in  the  White's  Grove  district  was  a 
little  board  shanty  on  the  farm  where  Henry  DeBord 
now  lives.  There  was  no  church  nearer  than  French 
Grove.  Later  there  was  one  at  Princeville.  After  the 
second  school  house  was  built,  there  were  meetings 
there  sometimes.  The  present  school  house  is  the  third 
one. 

As  Mrs.  Jos.  Armstrong  began  so  she  continued  and 
because  of  her  thrift  and  economy  the  income  from 
farm  products  was  largely  left  to  use  in  buying  more 
land  and  improving  the  same.  She  died  March  3,  1877, 
at  the  age  of  59  years.  After  her  death  her  daughters 
nobly  filled  her  place. 

Squire  Armstrong  took  an  active  interest  in  town- 
ship affairs  and  held  the  office  of  supervisor  for  18  years 
and  that  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  24  years.  He 
was  a  great  lover  of  peace,  and  having  seen  the  folly 
of  litigation  in  his  mother's  home,  he  would  settle  dif- 


74  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

ficulties  when  possible  without  allowing  them  to  come 
to  trial.  While  not  bound  to  any  church  he  early 
learned  to  love  his  Bible  and  always  stood  ready  to  help 
any  righteous  cause  both  financially  and  by  his  influ- 
ence. He  lived  to  the  ripe  age  of  nearly  83  years  and 
died  January  9,  1903,  esteemed  and  beloved  by  all  who 
knew  him. 

There  were  eleven  children,  four  sons  and  seven 
daughters.  One  son  died  in  infancy.  Mary  married 
Allen  McMillen  and  lived  near  Wichita,  Kansas,  and 
died  last  November.  Joseph  died  June  7,  1879.  James 
married  Katie  Parnell  and  lives  near  Bondville,  Cham- 
paign County,  Illinois.  Lucretia,  wife  of  James  Parrish, 
lives  near  Shenandoah,  Iowa.  Isabella,  first  wife  of 
Jas.  Parrish,  died  Aug.  11,  1886.  Ellen,  wife  of  Jackson 
Leaverton,  lives  at  White's  Grove.  William  married 
Rose  C.  Haller,  died  March  2,  1904.  Rosalie  lives  in 
Shenandoah,  Iowa.  Martha,  wife  of  John  Squire,  lives 
near  Monica,  and  Jennie,  wife  of  Chas.  Blank,  lives 
near  Coin,  Iowa.  There  are  39  grandchildren  and  20 
great-grandchildren. 

James  Armstrong,  the  second  son  of  James  and 
Mary  McCoy  Armstrong,  did  not  settle  in  Illinois  but 
went  farther  West  where  he  was  lost  track  of  for  21 
years.  Then  he  was  discovered  by  the  late  Hugh  Roney, 
his  great  resemblance  to  Squire  Armstrong  making 
Mr.  Roney  stop  and  question  him.  He  started  a  foundry 
in  Maryville,  Mo.,  which  his  second  son  William  still 
runs.  He  died  several  years  ago.  There  are  three 
daughters  living. 

Eliza  married  Sanford  M.  Whittington,  May  22, 
1857,  who  owned  the  farm  now  owned  by  Henry 
DeBord.  He  later  sold  this  and  after  living  in  Prince- 
ville  and  vicinity  a  while,  they  moved  to  Blandinsville, 
111.,  where  she  died  July  5,  1878.  She  was  the  mother 
of  six  daughters,  four  of  whom  survived  her.  Mary, 
now  Mrs.  Will  Schaad  of  Merna,  Neb.,  Sarah,  now  Mrs. 
Fred  DeBord  of  Maitland,  Mo.,  Clara,  wife  of  Ben  Mil- 
ler of  Broken  Bow,  Neb.,  and  Ida,  wife  of  Henry  Sim- 
mons, of  this  place. 


THE  ARMSTRONG  FAMILY  75 

John  Armstrong  married  Louisa  Walliker  July  4, 
1863,  and  lived  on  a  farm  near  Spoon  River,  which  was 
a  wedding  present  to  his  wife  by  her  father.  After 
living  here  some  years,  they  moved  to  a  farm  five  miles 
East  of  Maryville,  Mo.,  where  they  still  live  with  their 
oldest  son  and  daughter  who  are  unmarried,  and  three 
small  grandchildren.  One  son  is  a  widower  and  one 
son  and  three  daughters  are  dead. 

Ebenezer  taught  school  a  number  of  years,  was  in 
the  86th  regiment,  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  and 
served  in  the  Civil  War.  He  married  Martha  Walliker 
Oct.  30,  1866.  Bought  a  farm  with  the  money  saved 
from  his  army  pay  and  built  a  house  on  it  with  the 
money  his  wife  received  as  a  wedding  present  from 
her  father.  This  is  the  farm  now  owned  by  John  Squire 
where  Robt.  Ellison  lives.  John's  farm  was  just  West 
of  it.  He  later  became  a  Baptist  minister  and  preached 
several  years  at  White's  Grove  and  Kickapoo.  They 
sold  the  farm  and  in  February,  1886,  moved  to  a  farm 
near  Larned,  Kansas,  and  later  to  Hutchinson,  Kansas. 
He  continued  to  i)reach  as  long  as  his  health  would 
permit.  He  died  Jan.  30,  1903,  leaving  his  wife  and  six 
sons  and  three  daughters.  Three  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter are  married. 

During  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  when  merchandise 
sold  at  fabulous  prices,  Margaret,  better  known  as 
*'Aunt  Pegg3%"  and  Mary  conceived  the  idea  of  raising 
flax  and  preparing  it  for  cloth  themselves,  which  they 
did,  spun  and  wove  it.  For  years  after  this  they  carded 
and  spun  avooI  and  wove  it  into  blankets  and  wove  rag 
carpets,  till  they  were  known  all  over  the  Northern 
part  of  Peoria  County  and  beyond  its  limits.  They 
gave  some  time  every  day  to  the  reading  of  Scripture 
and  singing  of  hymns,  and  were  faithful  workers  in 
church  and  Sunday  school.  Two  more  earnest,  whole- 
some, God  fearing  women  than  they,  it  would  be  hard 
to  find.  Always  giving  liberally  of  all  their  substance, 
their  wealth  is  that  which  is  laid  up  in  heaven. 

Mary  became  a  member  of  the  Monica  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  when  it  was  organized  and 


76  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

was  an  effective  worker  there  till  she  moved  away. 
AVhen  in  the  vigor  of  their  womanhood  no  call  for  help 
in  time  of  sorrow  or  sickness  was  ever  unheeded  and 
this  was  kept  up  as  long  as  they  were  able  to  go. 

On  March  6,  1896,  Mary  married  "Wm.  Mann  of  near 
Beatrice,  Neb.  They  were  each  66  j^ears  old.  They 
lived  together  happily  for  ten  years  when  he  was  called 
hence.  A  few  years  previously  they  had  moved  into 
Beatrice  where  she  still  lives,  a  blessing  to  the  commun- 
ity, still  giving  of  her  substance  as  faithfully  as  of 
yore,  and  enjoying,  in  a  greater  measure  than  most  do, 
a  simple  trust  in  and  nearness  to  the  Heavenly  Father 
and  His  Divine  Son.  Surely  the  world  is  better  because 
Margaret  and  Mary  Armstrong  have  lived  in  it.  Aunt 
Peggy  is  now  83,  Aunt  Mary  78  and  Uncle  John  76 
years  old.  ''The  fear  of  the  Lord  prolongeth  days." 
(Prov.  10:27.) 


THE  LAWRENCE  McKOWN  FAMILY. 
By  Mrs.  Eliza  Bouton  and  H.  J.  Cheesman,  1908. 


Lawrence  McKown  and  his  wife,  Cynthia  White 
McKown,  first  came  to  Princeville  about  1830,  but  on 
account  of  homesickness,  soon  returned  to  Rockville, 
Indiana,  whence  they  had  come.  In  1833,  their  daugh- 
ter Eliza  then  being  two  years  old,  they  returned  to 
Princeville  and  brought  with  them  Mrs.  McKown 's 
parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hugh  White,  who  settled  in 
Northwest  Princeville.  The  McKown 's,  after  staying  a 
little  while  in  Northwest  Princeville,  built  their  first 
cabin  in  one  of  the  ravines  just  East  of  the  Jubilee 
road,  near  the  present  ''Santa  Fe  Arch."  This  is  the 
first  home  that  their  daughter  Eliza  remembers.  Hugh 
McKown  was  born  here  in  1835.  Next  they  built  a 
small  cabin  on  the  land  of  James  Morrow,  near  the 
"Hitchcock  Pond."  In  this  second  home  Levi  McKown 
was  born  in  1838.    This  house,  south  of  the  "Hitchcock 


THE  LAWRENCE  MC   KOWN    FAMILY  77 

Pond"  ravine,  was  built  and  the  McKown's  were  living 
in  it  some  years  before  the  Slane  family  built  near  them, 
and  before  the  school  house  was  erected  on  the  site 
where  later  stood  Hitchcock  &  Voris'  mill.  Although 
living  close  to  school,  Mrs.  Eliza  Bouton  says  the 
"Hitchcock  Pond"  ravine  was  often  so  full  of  water 
that  it  was  "pretty  tough  walking  and  wading  to  get 
to  school."  It  was  a  "subscription"  school,  and  her 
father  paid  tuition  for  the  privilege  of  sending  his  chil- 
dren. The  first  teacher  was  Miss  Esther  Stoddard  and 
the  second  was  another  Miss  Stoddard,  sister  of  the 
first.  Next  was  Mr.  Solomon  Cornwell,  remembered 
by  his  pupils  because  of  his  severity.  This  log  school 
house,  just  Southeast  of  where  the  Rock  Island  depot 
now  stands,  was  very  small  and  when  the  scholars 
all  stood  up  to  spell  they  reached  around  the  four  sides 
of  the  room. 

Mrs.  Bouton 's  first  recollection  of  the  present  site 
of  Princeville  was  that  people  used  to  come  up  from 
Jubilee  way  to  pick  blackberries  and  hazelnuts  where 
the  town  now  stands. 

In  1840,  Mr.  McKown  and  family  moved  to  Missouri. 
Here  he  lost  his  wife  in  1842,  and  he  brought  the  chil- 
dren back  to  Illinois.  His  moving  disposition  took  him 
away  again,  this  time  to  Texas,  where  he  stayed,  leav- 
ing the  children  here  to  grow  up  with  their  cousins,  the 
Whites  and  the  Morrows.  He  returned  once  about 
1875,  and  again  a  few  months  before  his  death  at  the 
home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Bouton,  in  1891. 

Eliza  McKown  was  married  to  Alanson  Bouton  on 
Jan.  5,  1854.  Mr.  Bouton  died  July  3,  1868,  and  their 
only  child.  Miss  Minnie,  still  lives  at  home  with  her 
mother. 

Amanda  McKown  married  Isaac  Crowe  and  now 
lives  in  Toulon,  111. ;  her  children  are :  Wm.  Crowe  of 
Iowa,  Mrs.  Ella  Moss  of  Jubilee  and  Mrs.  Jennie  Smith 
of  Toulon. 

Hugh  McKown  married  Lizzie  Bouton  on  March  29, 
1864,  and  died  April  8,  1874.     Their  children  are  Mrs. 


78  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

Lena  Miller;  Emma  (deceased)  ;  Alanson  B.,  living  in 
Iowa;  Mrs.  Lois  Beall  and  Mrs.  Stella  Graves. 

Levi  McKown  married  Jane  German,  and  they  now 
live  at  Elmwood,  111.  Their  children  are :  Mrs.  Allie 
Carter,  William,  Lewis,  Albert,  Bessie,  Frank,  Edith 
and  Eldon. 

Mary  McKown  married  Hiram  Bronson.  both  of 
them  now  dead ;  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Clara  Archibald,  is 
living  in  Iowa,  and  a  son,  Mark,  went  to  the  Philippines 
some  years  ago  and  has  not  been  heard  from. 

Cynthia  McKown  married  Malchiah  Mendell  and 
she  is  still  living  in  Kansas,  although  now  critically  ill. 
She  has  six  children :  Mrs.  Mary  Gadberry  of  Russell. 
Kan. ;  Mrs.  Ida  Bowman  of  Moran,  Kan. ;  Luther  A.  of 
Gorham,  Kan. ;  Elza  H.  of  Russell,  Kan. ;  Mrs.  Arzella 
C.  Howard  of  Ft.  Scott,  Kan.,  and  Iva  L.  of  Russell, 
Kan.  (Mrs.  Mendell  died  April  18,  1911,  and  was 
buried  in  the  Russell  cemetery.) 

Mrs.  Bouton  is  probably  the  oldest  original  settler 
now  in  this  locality.  She  remembers  the  building  of 
the  first  school  house,  the  coming  of  the  Slane  family 
from  Kickapoo,  also  the  coming  of  the  Blanchards,  the 
coming  of  Mr.  Stevens,  the  building  of  the  first  Morrow 
store,  the  staking  out  of  the  original  village  in  1837,  the 
building  of  the  first  Presbyterian  Church,  where  Chees- 
man  Bros.'  store  now  stands,  and  has  been  familiar 
with  practically  all  of  Princeville 's  history.  She  also 
remembers  the  starting  of  the  cemetery  out  on  the 
Northwest  hill,  and  can  tell  of  the  burials  in  the  South 
woods  for  a  few  years  before  that.  There  were  many 
hardships  during  these  early  years  that  the  people  of 
to-day  know  nothing  about ;  but  along  with  the  hard- 
ships there  were  many  pleasant  happenings.  Best  of 
all  was  the  old  spirit  of  hospitality  and  ever  readiness 
to  help  friends. 


PRINCEVIIvLE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH  79 

PRINCEVILLE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 
SEVENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY. 

Account  as  Published  in  Princeville  Telephone  Aug.  19, 

1909. 


Seventy-fifth  Anniversary — Presbj^terian  Church  Cele- 
brates    Mile-stone    in    Its   History — Two  Day's 
Program  Greatly  Enjoyed  by  All  Present. 

As  announced  and  planned  for  months  past,  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Princeville,  celebrated  on  Sun- 
day and  Monday  of  this  week  the  seventy-fifth  anni- 
versary of  its  organization  as  '* Prince's  Grove  Church" 
in  1834.  Nearly  500  programs  and  announcements  had 
been  mailed  to  as  many  present  and  former  members 
of  the  church.  Large  audiences  attended  all  of  the 
services  on  Sunday  as  well  as  the  afternoon  meeting, 
supper  on  the  law^n,  and  organ  recital  on  Monday. 

Rev.  Wiles'  sermon  Sunday  morning  was  an  his- 
torical sketch  of  the  church  which  is  printed  in  full 
below.  In  the  evening  Rev.  Brown,  the  M.  E.  church 
joining  in  Union  services,  gave  a  sermon  on  Joshua 
4:6,  "What  mean  ye  by  these  stones?"  In  the  Sunday 
School,  reminiscent  talks  were  given  on  the  first  start- 
ing of  the  Sunday  School,  and  the  earliest  superintend- 
ents and  teachers,  as  well  as  the  more  recent  ones. 

The  choir  Sunday  morning  was  reinforced  by  a  num- 
ber of  old  time  singers  of  the  church.  In  the  evening, 
a  chorus  rendered  Schnecker's  setting  of  the  97th  Psalm 
as  a  Cantata,  preceding  Rev.  Brown's  address. 

The  Monday  afternoon  session  was  perhaps  the  one 
most  enjoyed  by  the  old  members,  and  the  most  helpful 
to  the  younger  ones.  After  listening  to  a  few  letters 
from  former  pastors  and  friends  at  a  distance,  those 
present  spoke  in  an  informal  way  about  the  early  times, 
giving  their  recollections  about  the  old  building,  the 
first  pastors,  and  the  leading  members.  There  were 
exhibited  at  this  and  the  other  meetings  the  first  session 


80  HISTORY   AND  REMINISCENCES 

book  of  the  church,  sermons  by  Revs.  Cameron  and 
Cunningham,  a  pulpit  Bible,  presented  to  the  church 
in  1849,  some  boards  from  the  first  frame  church  build- 
ing, and  a  picture  of  the  wife  of  the  first  pastor.  The 
fact  was  brought  out  at  this  meeting  that  the  church  is 
older  than  the  village ;  and  that  before  there  were 
public  schools  here  the  church  took  a  very  active  part 
in  education. 

It  was  inspiring  for  the  young  members  to  hear  at 
first  hand  of  the  greater  reverence  of  those  earl.y  times ; 
of  the  loyalty  and  generosity  of  the  members;  and  of 
the  intense  devotion  of  the  pastors. 

For  the  supper  and  social  on  the  lawn,  a  more  ideal 
day  could  not  have  been  hit  upon,  and  the  happy  spirit 
of  the  large  number  in  attendance  was  in  harmony  with 
the  ideal  weather  conditions.  The  large  tables  were 
seated  to  their  capacity  four  times  in  succession,  about 
280  being  served. 

Monday  evening's  recital  was  a  rare  treat  in  a 
musical  way.  Miss  Edith  Campbell  of  Peoria  rendering 
among  other  selections,  Schubert's  Serenade,  the  Pil- 
grim's Chorus,  and  an  arrangement  of  the  Hallelujah 
Chorus.  Mrs.  Chas.  Whitney,  Soprano,  and  Mr.  How- 
ard Kellogg,  Tenor,  both  of  Peoria,  rendered  several 
solos  and  duets.  Miss  Campbell's  mastery  of  the  organ 
was  especially  enjoyed  by  her  Princeville  friends. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  PRINCEVILLE 
PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

Written  for  the  Occasion  of  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary, 
Aug.  15-16,  1909,  by  Rev.  Max  Wiles. 


It  is  my  purpose  to  try  to  sketch  the  history  of  this 
church  since  its  organization.  I  can,  of  course,  men- 
tion but  single  incidents  in  each  succeeding  period,  for 
to  go  into  anything  of  detail  one  could  write  volumes. 
The  church  has  retained  an  unbroken  historv  since  its 


PRINCEVII.LE  PRESBYTERIAX   CHURCH  81 

beginning.  Early  members  have  come  and  gone  but 
the  work  abides.  Like  the  Children  of  Israel  when  they 
carried  with  them  the  Ark  and  the  tables  of  stone,  so 
each  succeeding  generation  has  preserved  the  records 
of  the  deeds  of  the  fathers.  As  this  anniversary  service 
proceeds  on  into  tomorrow,  the  aged  veterans  of  the 
pioneer  days  can  supply  much  of  the  detail  which  of 
necessity  is  lacking  here. 

Let  us  together  open  the  book  of  time  and  turn  the 
pages  back  to  seventy-five  years  ago.  In  the  first  ses- 
sion book  of  the  church  on  page  one  under  the  heading 
"Prince's  Grove,  August  16,  1834,"  we  have  the  record 
of  the  first  meeting  of  the  church.  I  will  read  the 
account  as  there  recorded : 

''Agreeably  to  a  request  made  by  a  number  of  pro- 
fessors of  religion  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  this 
settlement,  the  Rev.  Robert  Stewart  met  them ;  and 
after  sermon  by  Rev.  Theron  Baldwin,  the  following 
individuals  came  forward  and  presented  testimonials 
of  their  good  standing  as  church  members,  and  were 
voluntarily  formed  into  a  church,  to  be  known  by  the 
name  of  "Prince's  Grove  Presbyterian  Church."  The 
names  of  those  who  united  with  the  church  were : 
Jonathan  E.  Garrison,  Hugh  White,  James  Morrow, 
Thomas  Morrow,  Samuel  R.  AVhite,  John  F.  Garrison, 
Mary  A.  Garrison,  Elinor  Morrow,  Jane  Morrow, 
Elizabeth  A.  Morrow%  Jane  White,  Mary  A.  Peet, 
Elizabeth  Prince,  Mary  White,  ]\Iartha  Morrow,  John 
Miller,  and  Dosha  Miller — seventeen  in  all.  As  far  as 
we  are  able  to  discover,  none  of  these  charter  members 
survive. 

The  present  generation  will  find  it  hard  to  even 
imagine  the  scene  of  this  early  organization.  This 
meeting  was  no  doubt  held  in  a  log  school  house,  sit- 
uated some  place  East  of  the  Rock  Island  railroad 
crossing. 

The  Black  Hawk  war  of  1832  had  closed  and  while 
the  Indians  were  leaving,  the  settlers  were  arriving. 
These  broad  acres  now  covered  with  crops  of  grain, 
were  then  covered  with  prairie  grass,  blue-stem,  rosin 


82  HISTORY    AND   REMINISCENCES 

weed,  red  root  and  sumac.  The  timber  was  skirted 
with  patches  of  hazel  brush,  blackberry  and  gooseberry 
bushes.  Frequently  herds  of  deer  could  be  seen  in  the 
edge  of  the  hills.  Along  Spoon  river,  where  we  now 
go  fishing  in  safety,  except  for  the  mosquitoes,  there 
were  herds  of  deer  numbering  one  hundred  fifty,  also 
wildcats,  IjTQxes,  numbers  of  prairie  wolves,  coyotes 
and  big  gray  timber  wolves. 

Log  houses  were  few  in  number  and  with  some 
exceptions  widely  separated.  These  settlers  built  their 
homes  in  the  timber  on  some  small  clearing  near  the 
creek.  The  markets  were  then  Peoria,  Lacon,  Chilli- 
cothe  and  Chicago.  Trips  were  made  to  these  different 
places  with  ox  teams,  hauling  wheat  to  exchange  for 
lumber,  salt  and  clothing.  Such  was  something  of  the 
environments  surrounding  these  early  church  men. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  first  meeting  the  church 
extended  an  invitation  to  the  Kev.  Calvin  W.  Babbitt 
to  take  charge  of  the  work  as  stated  supply.  Rev.  Mr. 
Babbitt  accepted  and  served  the  church  a  little  more 
than  one  year.  The  record  speaks  well  of  his  minis- 
terial fidelity. 

The  next  minister  was  the  Rev.  George  G.  Gill,  who 
supplied  the  pulpit,  preaching  every  third  Sabbath. 
During  this  pastorite,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hill  of  the  M.  E. 
church  supplied  the  pulpit  on  several  occasions. 

In  the  year  1843  the  Rev.  Robert  Breese  became 
pastor  and  supplied  the  field  of  Rochester  and  Prince- 
ville,  residing  a  part  of  the  time  in  Princeville  and  the 
remainder  in  Rochester.  Mr.  Breese 's  labors  covered 
the  period  between  1843  and  1851.  In  1844  the  first 
frame  structure  was  built  on  the  site  now  occupied  by 
Cheesman  Bros.'  store. 

Thomas  Morrow,  Erastus  Peet  and  Samuel  R. 
White,  besides  others,  each  hauled  a  load  of  lumber 
from  Chicago,  some  of  them  with  ox  teams.  This  was 
Rev.  Mr.  Breese 's  first  and  only  pastorate.  He  fell 
asleep  in  1851  and  lies  buried  in  our  village  cemetery. 
His  grave  is  marked  by  a  headstone  of  Italian  marble 
on   which   is  the  inscription,   "The   graves   of  all  His 


PRINCEVILLE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  83 

Saints  be  blest."     ''They  rest  from  their  labors  and 
their  works  do  follow  them." 

It  is  fitting  to  speak  at  this  point  of  the  material 
help  given  in  building  this  first  church  by  Mr.  Wm.  C. 
Stevens,  the  founder  of  Princeville.  He  gave  the  lot 
with  a  clear  title  and  no  reservations.  He  gave  liberally 
and  generously  of  time  and  money.  He  gave  plaster 
material  that  had  been  hauled  from  Chicago  for  his 
own  house  and  then  lived  in  his  own  house  three  years 
without  plastering;  this  that  the  church  might  be  made 
comfortable  the  sooner.  His  teams  went  to  Chicago 
twice  and  he  furnished  the  lumber  that  they  brought 
back.  When  money  was  hard  to  collect  he  helped  fur- 
nish it  at  a  sacrifice  and  waited  until  it  could  be  paid 
back.  It  was  his  heart's  desire  to  see  a  good  church 
established  in  the  community  and  he  entered  into  the 
work  heart  and  soul. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Breese,  the  Rev.  Robert 
Cameron  was  called,  who  labored  most  diligently  on 
the  field  until  1857,  when  he  likewise  was  called  away 
by  death.  Robert  Cameron  was  the  father  of  Auntie 
Cameron  who  has  reached  the  ripe  age  of  84  years  and 
is  patiently  waiting  her  summons  home.  Rev.  Robert 
Cameron  was  much  beloved  and  very  highly  esteemed 
by  the  church  and  by  his  ministerial  brethren.  He 
frequently  contributed  able  papers  to  the  religious 
periodicals  published  in  his  day.  He  died  happily  in 
the  Lord  after  a  faithful  ministry  covering  a  period  of 
nearly  forty  years.  His  grave  is  also  with  us,  marked 
by  a  headstone  of  white  marble  erected  by  the  church 
to  his  memory.  The  church  has  one  of  his  sermons  on 
file.  It  was  delivered  possibly  during  the  year  1855 ; 
the  text  is  Matthew  5:8,  ''Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
heart,  for  they  shall  see  God." 

Following  Mr.  Cameron  the  Rev.  George  Cairns  and 
Rev.  J.  M.  Stone  as  stated  supply,  each  had  a  part  in 
caring  for  the  flock,  during  the  time  the  church  was 
without  a  regular  pastor. 

This  brings  us  down  to  the  time  of  the  out-break  of 
the  Civil  War.     I  find  on  record  that  the  church  met 


84  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

together  during  these  troublesome  times  and  by  a 
unanimous  voice  expressed  their  loyalty  to  the  govern- 
ment. 

In  1863  Rev.  William  Cunningham,  after  serving 
one  year  as  chaplain  in  the  army,  came  to  Illinois  and 
preached  at  Prospect  church  (now  known  as  Dunlap) 
during  the  summer.  In  October  he  was  invited  to  take 
charge  of  the  Princeville  church,  which  invitation  he 
accepted,  serving  the  church  until  1870.  During  the 
first  part  of  his  ministry  he  also  taught  in  the  Academy ; 
later  he  severed  his  connection  with  the  Academy  and 
give  all  his  time  and  talents  to  his  ministerial  duties. 
In  the  winter  of  1865-6  the  church  passed  through  a 
season  of  reviving  and  quickening.  A  large  number 
confessed  their  faith  in  Christ  and  united  with  the 
church.  As  a  result  of  this  ingathering,  plans  were  laid 
for  the  erection  of  the  second  church  building.  These 
plans  they  were  able  to  carry  out  and  the  main  audi- 
torium of  this  building  in  which  we  are  gathered  was 
built  and  dedicated.  The  women  of  the  church  were 
not  lacking  in  this  pioneer  spirit.  Through  their  efforts 
they  were  able  to  contribute  $1000.00  to  the  building 
fund. 

These  were  notable  years.  A  revival,  a  new^  house 
of  worship,  a  regularly  installed  pastor  and  his  salary 
increased  $200.00.  Just  here  an  event  takes  place  in 
the  history  of  the  church  which  cast  a  cloud  over  the 
noonday  splendor  of  its  future.  It  was  in  the  year  1867, 
the  pastor  was  married  to  the  beautiful  and  accom- 
plished Miss  Laura  Aldrich.  Much  was  hoped  from 
this  union.  But  Providence  had  other  ways  and  plans. 
In  two  months  after  their  wedding  she  was  buried  in 
the  village  cemetery,  the  victim  of  a  sad  accident.  The 
pastor,  under  this  heavy  blow,  felt  that  he  could  no 
longer  carry  on  the  work  and  so  requested  the  church 
and  Presbytery  to  unite  with  him,  dissolving  the  re- 
lation. 

In  1871,  the  Rev.  Arthur  Rose  was  called,  who 
served  the  church  until  1877.  Many  present  this  morn- 
ing can  follow  the  history  here,  and  for  lack  of  time 


PRINCEVIU.E  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  85 

it  will  be  necessary  to  note  only  special  events.  The 
church  had  to  contend  against  a  shifting  population 
which  caused  the  attendance  and  membership  to  rise 
and  fall  in  point  of  numbers.  The  rise  in  the  value  of 
land  in  Illinois  and  the  inviting  openings  in  the  West 
was  the  cause  of  this  unrest. 

In  1881,  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Belville  was  called  to  the 
pastorate  and  served  the  church  until  1886.  During 
this  period  the  benevolences  of  the  church  were  carried 
out  systematically,  all  the  boards  of  the  church  being 
remembered  with  gifts.  The  work  of  the  Sunday  school 
began  to  be  pushed  ahead  with  greater  vigor. 

Rev.  Chas.  M.  Taylor  came  into  the  pastorate  in 
1887  and  carried  on  the  work  until  1896.  During  the 
years  1894  and  1895  the  church  reached  its  highest 
mark  in  point  of  membership  and  benevolences.  The 
membership  numbered  210  and  the  Sunday  school  238. 
(All  will  understand  that  the  church  keeps  revising  its 
roll  and  only  the  names  on  the  active  list  are  counted 
here.) 

Succeeding  Mr.  Taylor  the  Rev.  D.  A.  K.  Preston 
served  the  church  for  one  year  as  stated  supply. 

This  brings  us  to  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Chas.  T. 
Phillips,  whose  services  cover  the  period  from  1897 
to  1903.  During  this  time  a  large  number  were  added 
to  the  church  upon  confession  of  faith.  Dr.  Robert  F. 
Henry,  w^ho  had  served  the  church  as  ruling  Elder  for 
over  40  years,  passed  away.  Dr.  Henry  often  rep- 
resented the  Peoria  Presbytery  at  Synod  and  had  the 
honor  of  being  sent  to  the  General  Assembly  on  two 
different  occasions.  At  his  death  he  was  teacher  of 
the  famous  ''infant  class."  The  story  of  this  notable 
class  has  been  told  all  over  the  nation.  Fourteen  there 
were  whose  ages  aggregated  more  than  1000  years. 
Rev.  Mr.  Phillips  speaks  of  the  inspiration  it  gave  him 
to  see  those  gray  heads  reverently  bent  over  the  sacred 
page,  every  word  of  which  to  them  was  God-breathed. 
This  brief  sketch  closes  with  the  faithful  service  ren- 
dered by  Rev.  Amos  A.  Randall  and  the  beginning  of 
the  present  pastorate,  1908. 


86  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

I  could  not  begin  to  speak  of  the  industry,  the  self 
sacrifice,  the  consecration  of  these  early  days.  In 
God's  great  Book  of  Life  it  is  all  recorded. 

The  church  early  adopted  the  plan  of  Rotary  Elder- 
ship. This  gave  a  number  of  different  laymen  the  op- 
portunity to  serve.  The  oldest  elder  in  point  of  years 
and  also  of  service  is  Elder  Geo.  Eowcliffe,  who  took 
his  office  in  1870.  Mr.  Lemuel  Auten  was  a  colleague  of 
Mr.  Rowcliffe's.  (Mr.  Auten  has  since  taken  his  church 
letter  to  our  sister  denomination  at  Monica.)  Elijah 
Tracy  and  Byron  H.  "Wear  also  served  in  the  office  of 
eldership  for  a  number  of  years.  G.  W.  Rowcliffe  has 
been  honored  by  being  re-elected  to  this  office  a  num- 
ber of  times.  John  M.  Yates,  who  comes  from  an  illus- 
trious family  of  church  goers,  is  serving  his  first  term 
on  the  Board.  C.  J.  Cheesman,  w^ho  is  a  colleague  of 
Mr.  Yates,  also  holds  the  office  of  superintendent  of 
Sunday  school.  This  is  his  specialty,  having  been  in 
this  work  as  leader  since  1889.  The  Board  of  Trustees 
composed  of  Mr.  Peter  Auten,  Bruce  Henry  and  G. 
W.  Rowcliffe  come  in  for  their  share  of  praise.  They 
are  contempling  larger  things  in  the  way  of  improve- 
ments and  building. 

The  church  treasurer  is  Mr.  Henry  J.  Cheesman, 
whose  exemplary  care  of  the  church  funds  deserves 
great  praise.  In  his  honesty  and  fidelity  he  is  a  man 
after  our  own  heart. 

POINTS  OF  LOCAL  INTEREST 

We  have  five  members  who  are  well  past  four  score 
years :  Miss  Agnes  Cameron,  Mrs.  Eliza  Barr,  Martin 
Luther  Bingham,  Mrs.  Jane  Smith  and  Mr.  J.  T.  Albert- 
son.     All  these  will  soon  join  the  church  triumphant. 

Tradition  tells  us  that  Mr.  Hugh  Morrow  and  Mrs. 
Eliza  Bouton  were  two  of  the  children  present  with 
their  parents  in  that  famous  meeting  in  1834. 

The  one  to  whom  the  honor  is  ascribed  of  being  the 
oldest  member  in  point  of  church  membership  is  Mrs. 
Hugh  Morrow,  she  having  joined  in  1854  and  remain- 


PRINCEVILLE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH  87 

ing  in  constant  communion  of  the  church  for  fifty-five 
years. 

Mr,  Edward  Auten  and  his  brother,  Lemuel,  united 
six  months  after  Mrs.  Morrow.  The  beloved  Mrs.  Dr. 
Henry  was  also  a  member  of  this  class.  Mrs.  Henry 
joined  the  church  above  within  the  last  year. 

Many  more  things  might  be  mentioned  and  will  be 
told  as  we  go  on  through  the  services  of  this  day  and 
tomorrow. 

God  has  verified  His  promise  to  His  church.  Through 
summer's  heat  and  winter's  cold  He  has  kept  this  vine 
alive.  Though  dry  and  parched  it  became  at  times, 
he  watered  it  with  the  dews  of  Divine  Grace  and  again 
it  has  sprung  into  new  life.  And  now,  after  seventy- 
five  years  of  growth,  its  protecting  branches  cover  a 
multitude.  With  peace  within  and  without  our  bor- 
ders, this  church  stands  as  a  center  of  radiating  blessed- 
ness, cheering,  sweetening,  purifying  and  saving  the 
souls  of  men. 

The  last  year  witnessed  the  largest  number  gathered 
into  the  church  in  any  single  year.  In  benevolences 
this  last  year  we  stand  second  only  to  the  banner  year. 

Firmly  believing  in  the  worthiness  of  this  church 
and  of  the  community's  present-day  need  of  it,  I  sum- 
mon all  to  a  new  consecration.  As  has  been  so  well 
said  by  a  wise  Educator,  "The  iron  of  the  fathers  is  in 
us,"  let  that  iron  brace  us  for  the  new  day  and  the  new 
duties.  The  beauty  of  the  fathers  is  in  us,  too.  Let 
that  beauty  make  us  loving  and  winsome.  Our  mission 
is  not  yet  accomplished.  Here  the  church  stands  beau- 
tiful for  situation,  the  choicest  building  site  in  the  vil- 
lage. May  we  be  a  joy  to  the  entire  community.  It 
can  be  truly  said  that  prayers  rise  continually  like 
sweet  incense  to  the  very  throne  of  God  in  behalf  of 
this  place. 

Think  of  the  heavenly  scenes  witnessed  at  this  altar. 
Innocent  babes  in  their  parents'  arms  receiving  the 
Sacrament  of  Baptism ;  children,  youths  and  older  ones 
reverently  taking  upon  themselves  the  vows  of  mem- 
bership, and  gathering  at  the  table  of  their  Lord.     And 


88  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

then  how  often  and  especially  within  the  last  year, 
when  the  cloud  of  sorrow  concealed  the  brightness  of 
the  sun,  have  we  gathered  within  these  sacred  walls  to 
be  comforted  by  the  service  in  which  the  last  sacred 
rites  were  administered  to  those  whom  we  love. 

My  friends,  this  church,  this  place,  has  grown  to 
become  a  part  of  us,  our  interest,  our  work,  our  very 
life.  May  it  be  that  our  adorable  Master  may  always 
find  this  church  answering  the  deepest  yearnings  of  His 
Heart  as  we  go  on  in  His  name  changing  darkness  into 
light  and  sin  into  Salvation. 


HISTORY  OF  PRINCEVILLE  M.  E.  CHURCH. 

Princeville  Telephone,  Sept.  30,  1909. 
AVritten  by  Milton  Wilson. 


Rev.  N.  J.  Brown  has  just  put  out  a  booklet  among 
his  people  and  the  friends  of  the  church  in  which  is 
contained  a  concise  historical  sketch  of  the  Princeville 
M.  E.  church  from  early  times,  written  by  Mr.  Milton 
Wilson  of  Princeville.  We  think  this  sketch  worthy  to 
be  reproduced  in  our  columns,  with  some  additions, 
which  space  did  not  permit  to  be  produced  in  the  book- 
let. 

In  attempting  to  write  a  history  of  the  M.  E.  church 
of  Princeville,  the  writer  is  confronted  with  the  fact 
that  there  are  no  records  to  w^hich  reference  can  be 
made,  no  memorandum  or  data  as  a  helper,  consequent- 
ly has  to  depend  wholly  upon  tradition  prior  to  the 
autumn  of  1848,  for  material  for  such  histor3^ 

About  the  year  1836  there  came  from  the  State  of 
New  York  to  this  place,  Rev.  John  Hill,  a  local  minis- 
ter of  the  M.  E.  church.  Soon  after  his  arrival,  he  and 
his  rather  numerous  family  of  sons  and  daughters  set- 
tled on  land  now  owned  in  part  by  Stephen  Hoag. 
''Father  Hill,"  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  a  very 
conscientious  and  faithful  man,  highly  esteemed  by  all 


HISTORY  OF  PRINCEVILLE    M.    E.   CHURCH  89 

who  knew  him.  He  soon  began  to  gather  in  at  his  humble 
home  the  ''lost  sheep" — immigrants  who  had  formerly 
been  members  of  the  M.  E.  church  at  places  of  their 
nativity  and  were  now  scattered  over  a  sparsely  settled 
country  with  no  previous  opportunity  of  returning  to 
the  "fold."  Services  were  rather  infrequent  and  in- 
formal. In  due  time  they  became  regularly  organized 
and  became  a  part  of  a  six  weeks'  circuit,  supplied  by 
a  regular  minister.  Services  were  held  first  in  Aunt 
Jane  Morrow's  log  cabin,  and  then  for  a  number  of 
years  in  a  small  log  school  house,  situated  about  thirty 
rods  southeast  of  the  present  site  of  the  C.  R.  I.  &  P. 
depot,  where  they  continued  to  worship  for  a  number 
of  yeai*s.  In  the  year  1846  the  stone  building  now 
occupied  by  the  Misses  Margaret  and  Arilla  Riel  was 
erected  for  school  purposes.  The  Board  of  Directors 
very  generously  tendered  its  use  to  all  religious  de- 
nominations, including  the  M.  E.  church,  for  religious 
services  when  not  needed  for  school  purposes. 

At  this  time  the  circuit  had  narrowed  to  a  four 
weeks'  itinerary,  including  Kickapoo,  Brimfield,  Roch- 
ester, now  Elmore,  and  Princeville.  The  ministers  who 
served  under  Conference  appointment  prior  to  the  fall 
of  1848,  were  Rev.  Messrs.  Pitner,  Whitman,  Gumming, 
Hill,  Beggs,  Applebee,  Grundy  and  Gaddis.  The  lay- 
men at  that  time  and  for  a  few  subsequent  years  who 
were  the  most  active  and  faithful  workers,  have  all  en- 
tered into  rest.  They  were :  Messrs.  Martin,  Russell, 
Ayling,  McMillen,  Hare  and  Hoag. 

At  the  Annual  Conference  held  in  the  fall  of  1848, 
two  young,  unmarried  ministers  were  appointed  to  the 
circuit,  both  of  whom  very  wisely  secured  "help  meets" 
during  the  year.  Under  their  ministrations  the  church 
prospered  in  every  respect.  Its  numerical  strength 
largely  increased  by  the  inflow  of  immigration.  In  the 
early  "fifties"  the  junior  preacher  under  appointment, 
known  as  the  "bachelor  preacher,"  well  educated  and 
able  in  discourse,  attracted  attention  by  a  certain  eccen- 
tricity. He  seemed  to  have  such  intense  concentration 
of  thought  while  preaching  as  to  be  oblivious  to  sur- 


90  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

rouudings.  Also  he  seemed  to  possess  an  unlimited 
supply  of  handkerchiefs  and  to  have  a  mania  for  their 
use.  Beginning  his  sermon  he  would  soon  produce  a 
handkerchief  from  a  pocket  and  lay  it  on  the  desk. 
After  a  little  another  would  make  its  appearance.  Then 
another  and  another,  until  from  four  to  six  handker- 
chiefs would  be  in  sight,  no  two  alike  in  style  or  color. 
It  was  a  query  among  the  young  people,  to  whom  this 
was  very  funny,  where  he  found  room  on  his  person  for 
such  a  consignment  of  linen. 

In  the  spring  of  1853  the  class  decided  they  would 
have  a  house  of  worship  of  their  own.  Building  was 
begim  on  Lots  1  and  2,  Block  16,  now  owned  by  Mrs. 
M.  J.  Adams,  but  the  structure  was  not  completed  until 
the  following  year  owing  to  scarcity  of  money.  The 
writer  does  not  remember  that  there  was  any  formal 
dedication  service  at  its  opening.  From  this  date  there 
was  a  gradual  growth  in  church  interests,  with  lapses 
at  intervals,  of  spiritual  life.  During  one  of  these  lat- 
ter a  Quarterly  Meeting  day  arrived.  It  was  late  in 
the  autumn  and  the  weather  was  chilly.  The  time  was 
Saturday  afternoon.  About  twenty  persons  were  pres- 
ent, and  as  the  Presiding  Elder,  a  nervous  man.  came  in 
he  glanced  at  the  fireless  stove.  As  he  walked  up  the 
aisle  he  took  note  of  the  accumulated  dirt  and  dust  in 
nook  and  corner.  Presently  an  aged  sister  secured  a 
broom  and  began  sweeping.  The  Elder  looked  quickly 
from  where  he  was  sitting  and  said,  ''Don't,  sister. 
Never  sweep  the  room  after  the  table  is  set. ' '  The  good 
old  lady,  greatly  abashed,  set  the  broom  back  in  its  rest- 
ing place  and  sat  down.  The  Elder  then  picked  up  a 
heavy  shawl  w^hich  he  usually  wore  in  cold  weather, 
and  drawing  it  around  his  thin  shoulders  with  the  top 
reaching  to  the  crown  of  his  head,  took  his  place  be- 
hind the  pulpit  and  throwing  his  head  back,  eyes  closed 
and  arms  folded,  began  singing,  ''Come,  Thou  Fount 
of  every  blessing."  The  whole  scene  was  so  amusing 
that  religious  sentiment,  for  the  time,  was  barred. 

August,  1858,  is  remembered  as  the  "great  revival 
year."     A  Camp  Meeting  was  held  in  the  grove  on  tlie 


HISTORY  OF  PRINCEVILLE    M.   E.   CHURCH  91 

farm  of  Jacob  Hoag,  and  the  meeting  was  one  of  great 
spiritual  power.  The  number  of  conversions  was  large. 
But  anxiety  was  not  absent  during  that  meeting.  Late 
in  the  afternoon,  on  Sunday,  information  came  to  the 
ministers  that  some  disorderly  fellows  from  a  distant 
neighborhood  were  coming  in  the  evening  to  create  a 
disturbance  and  ''break  up  the  meeting."  The  minis- 
ters at  once  entered  into  consultation  as  to  necessary 
steps  taken  for  protection  as  well  as  defense.  About 
this  time  two  or  three  young  men  of  the  immediate 
neighborhood  went  around  to  where  the  ministers  were 
in  consultation  and  said  to  them  that  they  were  not  pro- 
fessed christians,  but  believed  in  defending  religious 
assemblages  in  their  rights,  and  for  them  to  have  no 
further  thought  or  anxiety  about  the  matter,  as  they 
were  fully  organized  to  take  care  of  the  "Spoon  River 
gang"  if  they  made  any  attempt  to  disturb  the  meet- 
ing. This  was  soon  communicated  to  the  "gang"  when 
they  very  wisely  decided  that  "discretion  is  the  better 
part  of  valor"  and  hastily  left  the  grounds. 

AnotlTer  incident :  A'  young  fellow  came  into  the 
evening  service  and  took  a  seat  on  the  side  of  the  aisle 
assigned  to  the  ladies.  Presiding  Elder  Richard  Haney 
immediately  went  back  and  said  to  him  kindly  that 
perhaps  he  was  unaware  of  the  custom  of  the  church, 
that  the  males  sit  on  one  side  of  the  aisle  and  the  fe- 
males on  the  opposite  side,  and  asked  him  kindly  if  he 
would  please  be  seated  on  the  men's  side.  He  looked 
up  defiantly  in  the  face  of  the  elder  and  replied,  "I 
guess  not."  "I  guess  you  will,"  said  the  elder,  and 
quickly  grabbing  his  coat  collar  with  his  left  hand  and 
with  his  right  getting  a  very  convenient  grip  on  his 
trousers,  lifted  him  bodily  across  the  aisle,  setting  him 
down,  not  very  tenderly,  with  the  remark,  "Now  sit 
here  and  behave  yourself,  or  fare  worse."  He  did, 
never  stirring  from  his  enforced  place  of  seating  dur- 
ing the  entire  service,  only  occasionally  glancing  in  the 
direction  of  the  athletic  preacher. 

Just  before  the  closing  of  the  meeting  the  local  offi- 
ciary said  they  felt  that  the  church  had  been  so  greatly 


92  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

blessed  spiritually,  in  accessions  and  in  membership, 
that  Princeville  was  able  to  support  a  pastor  alone  and 
at  the  Annual  Conference  a  few  weeks  later  Princeville 
became  an  independent  charge.  Rev.  ]Millsap  being  the 
first  appointed  pastor.  The  church  under  the  new  ar- 
rangements began  and  continued  to  prosper  along  all 
lines  until  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 
And  notwithstanding  the  cloud  of  gloom  and  sorrow 
that  hung  over  the  church  during  those  trying  years  of 
the  war,  there  seemed  to  be  no  abatement  in  spiritual 
feeling  or  church  interests,  though  depleted  in  its  male 
members  and  outside  attendance  at  its  services  by  rea- 
son of  so  many  having  volunteered  and  gone  to  the 
front.  There  were  very  few  homes  not  represented  in 
the  service  by  a  husband,  father,  son  or  brother.  In 
1861  and  1862,  Rev.  Ahab  Keller  was  the  preacher  in 
charge.  He  was  knoT^ni  as  the  "fighting  parson." 
With  him,  at  that  time,  no  sermon  was  complete  and 
well  rounded  out  that  was  lacking  in  patriotic  utter- 
ances. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  and  the  return  of  the  sol- 
diers, the  church  took  a  new  life  and  increased  interest 
in  its  advancement  and  work,  the  outside  attendance 
at  the  services  being  greatly  increased.  These  condi- 
tions continued  to  grow  and  increase  until  the  spring 
of  1868,  when  the  question  of  building  a  new  and  larger 
church  edifice  began  to  be  agitated,  there  not  being 
room  enough  in  the  old  building  for  the  increased  mem- 
bership and  the  increasing  numbers  in  church  attend- 
ance. The  matter  soon  took  form  and  the  preliminary 
work  began.  It  was  completed  and  formally  dedicated 
in  the  month  of  September,  the  same  year,  by  Rev.  L.  B. 
Kent,  Presiding  Elder  of  Peoria  District.  Thus  after 
twenty  years  in  occupancy  of  the  first  church  building, 
they  became  occupants  of  the  new  structure.  The 
building  is  now  knowai  as  the  "old  Academy."  For  an 
even  twenty  years  this  building  continued  to  be  occu- 
pied as  a  house  of  worship.  During  all  these  j^ears 
peace  and  harmony  generally  prevailed  within  the 
sacred  walls.     One  sad  thought  lingers  in  memory — of 


HISTORY  OF    PRINCEVILLE   M.   E.   CHURCH  93 

the  scores  who  worshiped  at  its  altar  and  attended  upon 
its  services  who  have  passed  to  the  other  shore.  But  in 
nearly  every  case  the  passing  was  a  triumphant  one. 

In  the  year  1889  the  present  church  edifice  was 
erected  and  formally  dedicated  on  Sunday,  September 
15th,  of  the  same  year. 

Since  that  date  the  history  and  progress  of  the 
church  ought  to  be  fresh  in  the  memory  of  its  members 
as  well  as  all  who  attend  the  services.  If,  however,  a 
continued  history  of  the  church  is  desired,  this  closing 
is  a  good  beginning  for  a  more  youthful  and  capable 
successor.  A  list  of  the  regularly  appointed  ministers 
by  the  Annual  Conference  is  herewith  given,  covering 
a  period  of  sixty-one  years,  with  the  closing  Confer- 
ence year.  It  w411  be  observed  that  there  have  been 
thirty-six  distinct  ministers  who  served  the  church  dur- 
ing this  time,  in  length  of  service  from  one  to  five  years. 
Only  once  has  a  minister  returned  to  the  charge  under 
a  second  appointment,  this  one  being  Rev.  J.  S.  Millsap, 
in  1881. 

1848,  B.  C.  Swartz,  T.  F.  Royal ;  1849,  W.  C.  Cum- 
min gs.  J.  W.  Stogdell ;  1850,  John  Luccock, Dodge ; 

1851,  U.  J.  Giddings,  J.  B.  Craig;  1852,  U.  J.  Giddings, 

Reack;  1853.  N.  H.  Gregg,  C.  B.  Crouch;  1854-55, 

P.  F.  Rhodes;  1856-57,  J.  B.  Mills;  1858-59,  J.  S.  Mill- 
sap;  1860-61,  Ahab  Keller;  1862-63,  W.  J.  Beck;  1864, 
G.  W.  Brown;  3865-66,  S.  B.  Smith;  1867-68,  John 
Cavett;  1869,  M.  Spurlock ;  1870,  G.  W.  Havermale ; 
1871-72,  E.  Wasmuth;  1873-74.  J.  Collins;  1875-76,  W. 
B.  Carithers;  1877,  W.  D.  H.  Young;  1878-80,  Stephen 
Brink;  1881,  J.  S.  Millsap;  1882,  M.  V.  B.  White;  1883- 
84,  H.  M.  Laney;  1885-87,  F.  W.  Merrill;  1888-92,  Alex 
Smith;  1893-95,  R.  B.  Seaman;  1896,  J.  D.  Smith;  1897- 
98,  J.  E.  Conner;  1899-1900,  John  Rogers;  1901-04,  R. 
L.  Vivian ;  1905,  L.  F.  Cullom ;  1906-08,  N.  J.  Brown. 


94  HISTORY   AND  REMINISCENCES 

TRACES  OF  EARLY  INDIAN  LIFE  AT  ROCHES- 
TER, PEORIA  AND  KNOX  COUNTIES, 

ILLINOIS. 

By  W.  H.  Adams,  1909. 


Evidently  the  primeval  race  of  men  who  once  in- 
habited Millbrook  Township  and  have  long  since  van- 
ished, like  the  early  white  settlers  looked  upon  the  high 
prairies  as  the  play-ground  of  the  winter's  blizzard  and 
summer's  tornado,  and  therefore  sought  the  protec- 
tion of  the  bluffs  and  hills  along  Spoon  River  and  its 
confluents  as  a  site  for  their  villages  and  dwelling 
places.  The  quantity  of  the  ancient  earthworks,  and 
other  tumuli,  would  indicate  the  presence  of  a  con- 
siderable population  at  one  time,  or  perhaps,  more 
properly  expressed,  a  population  extending  over  a  long 
period  of  time. 

The  kitchen  middens  on  the  west  bank  of  Walnut 
Creek,  near  its  confluence  with  Spoon  River,  on  the 
farm  of  E.  L.  Grohs,  indicate  that  a  considerable  village 
existed  there  for  a  long  period  of  time.  Intermingled 
with  the  soil  that  would  naturally  accumulate  about 
the  home  of  the  savage,  is  the  refuse  from  their  feasts. 
This  consists  of  the  bones  of  the  deer,  opossum,  raccoon, 
land  snails,  fresh  water  shells  in  great  abundance,  and 
of  the  species  most  common  at  the  present  time ;  also, 
of  implements  of  the  chase,  etc.,  as  spearheads,  lances, 
knives,  arrow  points  made,  from  chert,  hornstone  and 
other  forms  of  quartz,  stone  axes,  celts,  gorgets,  dis- 
coidal  stones,  stone  hammers,  shreds  of  pottery,  etc. 
Nowhere  in  this  great  mass  of  material  is  there  any  evi- 
dence that  this  primitive  people  came  in  contact  with 
the  Aryan  race.  Undoubtedly  this  was  a  place  of  con- 
siderable importance.  Miss  Sumner,  Miss  Emma  Cum- 
ming  and  Mr.  Jay  Walsh  and  others  prominently  iden- 
tified with  the  educational  affairs  of  Knox  County,  have 
been  able  to  trace  an  ancient  Indian  trail  to  this  place 
from  well  defined  village  sites  in  Knox  County. 


TRACES  OF  EARLY  INDIAN   LIFE  95 

There  is  an  ossuary  or  burial  mound  some  eighty 
rods  southwest  of  this  village  that  contained  the  skele- 
tons of  thirty  or  more  individuals  that  had  been  piled 
up  somewhat  like  the  chopper  cords  up  his  wood,  with 
this  difference :  the  long  fellows  were  placed  at  the 
bottom  of  the  pile  and  the  short  ones  on  top,  and  over 
the  whole  was  erected  a  considerable  mound  of  earth 
that  was  thoroughly  rammed  or  packed. 

On  what  is  now  the  village  park  of  Rochester  was 
once  the  playground  where  the  plumed  braves,  when 
not  engaged  in  the  chase  or  lifting  scalps,  were  wont 
to  engage  in  the  pastime  of  playing  Chunkee  and  other 
games  of  like  character  germane  to  savage  life — per- 
haps with  the  same  enthusiasm  that  is  so  prominent  a 
characteristic  of  the  foot  and  baseball  players  of  the 
present  day. 

On  land  owned  by  the  Biederbeck  family  is  a  series 
of  round  and  long  mounds  of  considerable  magnitude, 
very  similar  to  those  so  common  in  the  State  of  Wis- 
consin. One  of  this  group  is  in  the  form  of  a  Grecian 
cross.  The  skeletons  in  the  more  ancient  graves  af- 
ford but  a  faint  trace  of  chalk.  This  would  indicate  a 
very  remote  interment,  perhaps  many  thousands  of 
years  ago. 

Here  and  there  the  little  flint  chips  that  are  scat- 
tered over  the  surface  of  a  slope  or  knoll,  swept  by  the 
west  and  north  winds,  is  the  monument  that  marks  the 
site  of  the  ancient  arrow-maker's  workshop.  There  is 
a  strong  probability  that  the  vocation  of  fashioning  the 
various  forms  of  chipped  implements  was  one  of  the 
warm  summer  time.  Here  beneath  the  wide  spreading 
branches  of  some  great  oak,  the  arrow  maker  would 
pursue  his  calling,  undisturbed  by  the  noxious  insects 
so  prevalent  on  the  low  lands  or  near  the  water  courses. 
Those  little  flint  chips  are  not  only  the  monuments  that 
mark  the  site  of  an  attalier,  but  tell  us  in  language  that 
can  not  be  misunderstood,  that  the  contemporaries  of 
the  arrow-makers  were  a  commercial  people  and  car- 
ried the  crude  material  in  boats  from  distant  places. 


96  HISTORY    AND   REMINISCENCES 

That  those  people  had  some  sort  of  a  religion  or 
worship  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  just  over  the  line 
in  Knox  County,  on  a  well  prepared  earthen  altar,  four 
men  and  one  woman  were  burned,  so  that  the  bones 
were  charred,  and  the  soil  was  impreg:nated  to  a  con- 
siderable depth  with  the  oleaginous  matter.  In  an  ex- 
cavation beneath  this  altar  were  the  skeletons  of  two 
men.  What  dire  calamity  had  overtaken  those  people, 
that  five  of  their  number  in  the  morning  of  young  man 
and  womanhood  should  be  immolated  on  a  fierv  altar 
to  propitiate  an  offended  deity  ?  It  was  certainly  a  re- 
ligion as  unreasoning  as  the  creed  of  the  bigoted 
fanatics,  as  cruel  as  starvation,  as  merciless  as  the  hate 
of  the  wanton  scorned. 

The  question  is  often  asked  where  did  those  primi- 
tive peoples  come  from.  Some  argue  that  they  are  the 
descendants  of  the  ten  and  a  half  lost  tribes  of  Israel, 
that  came  to  America  by  the  way  of  Behring  Strait. 
The  law  of  supply  and  demand  of  food  cuts  this  theory 
out.  Others  advanced  the  theory  that  they  came  to 
America  by  the  way  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  This  is  pos- 
sible. Able  archaeologists  take  the  position  that  they 
originated  in  America.  Or  in  other  words  that  the 
human  family  originated  in  more  than  one  place.  It 
is  just  as  easy  to  believe  that  if  man  is  a  creature  of  evo- 
lution he  had  several  starting  points,  as  to  believe  he 
had  but  one. 

In  1812  Congress  passed  an  act  creating  a  military 
bounty  land  district  between  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois 
Rivers  in  the  Territory  of  Illinois,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
soldiers  engaged  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain.  In 
1816  Amos  Wheeler  ran  the  Fourth  Principal  Meridian 
west  of  Peoria  County,  and  the  Standard  Parallel  be- 
tween Townships  Eight  and  Nine  North.  The  first  rec- 
ord we  have  of  the  presence  of  w^hite  men  in  the  north 
and  northwestern  parts  of  Peoria  County  is  the  pres- 
ence of  the  men  who  were  engaged  in  survey  of  the 
public  land  in  1817. 

The  Townships  of  Millbrook,  Bri infield,  Elmwood 
and  Trivoli  were  surveyed  and  subdivided  by  James  D. 


TRACES  01'   EARI^Y   INDIAN  UFE  97 

Thomas  in  1817.  Trivoli  was  partly  re-surveyed  by 
Isaac  L.  Baker  in  1853.  The  Townships  of  Prineeville, 
Jubilee,  Kosefield,  Logan,  Timber,  HoUis,  Limestone, 
Richwoods  and  Ilallock  were  surveyed  by  Thomas 
Joj^es  in  1817.  The  Townships  of  Akron,  Radnor,  Kiek- 
apoo  and  Peoria  were  surveyed  by  Thomas  Willis  in 
1817.  Townships  of  Medina,  Chillicothe  and  Rome 
were  surveyed  by  Jeremiah  Rice  in  1817. 

To  John  Dantz,  private  in  Bliss'  11th,  belongs  the 
honor  of  first  taking  title  to  land  in  Millbrook  Town- 
ship, to  whom  was  patented  the  Southwest  quarter  of 
Section  Thirty-three,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1818, 
warrant  9661.  The  second  tract  was  the  Southwest 
quarter  of  Section  Nine  to  Daniel  Whittain,  Feb.  9th, 
1818. 

The  first  tract  of  land  in  Prineeville  Township  was 
the  Southwest  quarter  of  Section  Twenty-nine.  It 
was  patented  to  John  Cady,  father  and  heir  of  Adair 
Cady,  Oct.  6,  1817.  There  were  forty-five  quarter  sec- 
tions of  land  in  Prineeville  Township  patented  to  sol- 
diers or  their  lieirs,  that  were  engaged  in  the  last  war 
with  Great  Britain. 

The  following  communication  was  received  from 
the  War  Department  in  answer  to  a  request  for  in- 
formation as  to  wdiat  tribes  of  Indians  occupied  this 
section  of  the  country  in  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century. 

War  Department,  Washington,  Jul.y  17,  1909. 
Mr.  W.  II.  Adams, 

Laura,  Peoria  Co.,  111. 

Nothing  has  been  of  record  in  this  department  to 
show  that  a  military  escort  was  furnished  for  the  pro- 
tection of  Surveyors  engaged.  It  appears  from  cor- 
respondence on  file  that  tlie  Surveyors  were  harrased 
by  Indians  belonging  to  the  Sac,  Fox  or  Winnebago 
tribes. 

It  also  appeal^  from  the  records  that  Fort  Clarke, 
Illinois,  was  erected  in  1813  on  the  present  site  of  Peo- 
ria as  a  protection  against  the  Peoria  Indians. 


98  HISTORY   AND  REMINISCENCES 


REMINISCENCES  OF  THE  STEWART  FAMILY. 
By  Layton  L.  Stewart,  1909. 


The  Stewart  family  came  to  Illinois  from  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.  Thomas  and  James  in  1852  and  Joseph  in 
1859.  Thomas  and  James  left  the  East  on  the  1st  of 
April  of  that  year  and  after  a  journey  of  two  weeks, 
from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg  by  railroad  and  stage 
coach,  then  dowTi  the  Ohio  to  the  Mississippi  and  up  the 
Illinois  to  Peoria,  and  out  to  Trivoli  Township  by  stage 
coach,  where  they  arrived  on  the  14th  of  April.  The 
next  day  they  all  went  sleigh-riding,  so  it  seems  there 
were  late  springs  in  those  days  as  well  as  now. 

Thomas  and  James  settled  in  Jubilee  in  1857,  Jo- 
seph in  1859.  The  Rowcliffe  and  Moss  families  were  the 
only  neighbors  in  this  part  of  the  Township  at  that  time 
except  Bishop  Chase,  who  had  founded  Jubilee  College 
several  years  before,  about  the  time  that  Prineeville 
was  first  settled. 

There  were  many  earlier  settlers  in  the  county,  but 
it  was,  in  comparison  to  the  present  time,  a  wild  coun- 
try around  Jubilee.  It  was  no  uncommon  sound  to 
hear  the  wolves  howling  around  the  house  at  night  and 
see  herds  of  deer  feeding  on  the  fall  grain  on  winter 
mornings. 

The  children  of  the  early  days  are  the  old  settlers 
now.  The  older  generation  is  rapidly  passing.  May  we 
fill  their  places  as  faithfully  as  they  performed  their 
parts  in  the  making  of  our  favored  countrj'. 


PIONEERS  OF  MII.I,BROOK  TOWNSHIP  99 

PIONEERS  OF  MILLBROOK  TOWNSHIP. 
By.  W.  II.  Adams,  1910. 


The  early  settlers  of  Millbrook  Township  came  to 
Illinois  that  they  might  obtain  homes  for  themselves 
and  a  heritage  for  their  children.  They  were  a  peo- 
ple who  respected  and  revered  the  Sabbath  as  a  day 
free  from  toil,  and  one  of  religious  worship,  of  high 
moral  character  and  business  probity,  they  promoted 
education  by  building  school  houses,  and  advanced  re- 
ligion by  erecting  churches.  Around  the  hearthstone 
of  their  humble  log  cabins,  the  wayfarer,  though  a 
stranger,  was  hospitably  entertained.  They  were  home- 
builders  in  the  broadest  and  best  sense  that  term  can 
imply. 

In  the  fall  of  1834,  William  Metcalf  built  a  log 
cabin  on  the  East  half  of  the  Southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion nine.  In  May  or  June,  1835,  John  Sutherland 
moved  his  family  from  Peoria  to  French  Grove,  where 
he  resided  until  his  death  in  1846. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1835,  John  Smith,  Sr., 
John  Smith,  Jr.,  and  Theragood  Smith  and  families, 
accompanied  by  John  White  (who  afterwards  became 
a  prominent  citizen  of  the  township),  and  another 
young  man  landed  on  the  site  of  the  Village  of  Roches- 
ter; and  they  immediately  proceeded  to  make  per- 
manent improvements  on  the  lands  that  they  had  en- 
tered at  the  Land  Office  at  Quincy  the  preceding  year. 
The  next  year  Charles  Yoeum  and  John  Carter  settled 
in  the  township.  Elias  Wycoff,  Sr.,  and  his  two  young 
sons  came  in  1838.  John  McCune  and  Alexander 
McDonnell  settled  on  Scotland  Prairie  about  1830  or  '37 
(if  I  have  not  mixed  dates). 

Subjoined  is  a  sketch  of  Col.  Clark  W.  Stanton, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  and  conspicuous  characters 
that  has  ever  appeared  in  the  business  arena  of  the 
Township,  by  his  son,  Erastus  Stanton,  of  Scaudia, 
Kansas. 


100  HISTORY   AND  REMINISCENCES 

COL.  CLARK  W.  STAXTOX. 
By  Erastus  Stanton,  1910. 


The  pioneer  of  Eochester,  Clark  W.  Stanton,  was 
born  in  Steuben  Conntj^,  in  the  State  of  Xew  York,  in 
1800.  The  country  was  wild  and  new  and  while  he 
was  3'et  a  small  boy,  the  war  of  1812  came  on  and  he 
])eing  the  oldest  child,  with  his  mother  was  compelled  to 
face  all  the  hardships  of  frontier  life,  with  the  added 
horrors  of  British  and  Indian  dangers,  as  his  father 
and  his  father's  brother  were  on  the  border  or  in  Can- 
ada repelling  the  enemy.  The  privations  and  suffering 
of  the  family  were  great.  There  was  not  much  farming 
yet  in  the  country,  and  Avhat  flour  there  was  was  most- 
ly gathered  up  for  the  use  of  the  army.  I  remember 
his  telling  of  often  seeing  his  mother  sifting  wheat  bran 
to  get  something  to  make  bread.  But  when  peace 
came  their  fortunes  were  much  improved,  and  having 
a  desire  to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade,  he  was  ap- 
prenticed to  a  good  workman  and  mill-wright  with 
whom  he  remained  for  several  years. 

In  those  days,  it  being  so  soon  after  the  war.  mil- 
itary exercise  took  the  place  that  base  ball  does  now, 
and  the  young  man  in  time  became  so  proficient  that 
he  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  captain  and  after- 
ward Colonel,  although  I  do  not  remember  of  hearing 
that  he  took  part  in  any  actual  warfare. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  and  Amy  Barnes  were 
married,  and  they  removed  to  Rochester,  Xew  York, 
where  there  were  better  opportunities  for  work,  and 
remained  there  for  several  years,  getting  ready  for  the 
inevitable  west. 

In  1833  or  34,  they  took  shipping  in  a  sailing  vessel 
for  Chicago,  a  little  heard  of  and  almost  unknown  vil- 
lage on  the  lower  end  of  Lake  Michigan,  going  around 
by  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw,  and  in  due  time  arriving 
at  Chicago,  where  they  do  not  seem  to  have  tarried 
long,  for  in  1834  or  so  he  assisted  in  the  building  of  the 


COL.   CLARK  W,    STANTON  101 

Court  House  at  Peoria,  and  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  was 
the  contractor  for  building:  the  same — all  the  time 
looking  for  a  stream  and  location  where  he  could  fulfill 
the  dream  of  his  heart  and  build  a  mill. 

And  he  found  Spoon  River  and  the  beautiful  loca- 
tion where  Rochester  reposes  in  romantic  beauty.  He 
at  once  built  a  log  cabin  which  stood  directly  in  the  rear 
of  what  is  or  was  the  Wilkins  store,  for  just  over 
the  bank  there,  was  a  beautiful  spring,  clear,  cold  and 
sparkling.  The  first  thing  to  do  was  to  build  a  saw 
mill,  dig  a  mill  race  and  dam  the  river.  He  gathered 
around  a  crew  of  stout,  gallant  young  fellows,  those 
remaining  now  remembered,  being  John  "White  and 
Robert  Armstrong.  I  can  remember  names  of  several 
others,  but  the  sound  of  their  names  would  mean  noth- 
ing nor  convey  any  idea.     This  was  in  1836. 

They  were  a  happy  company ;  long  years  afterwards 
T  have  heard  my  mother  speak  kindly  of  those  "boys" 
as  she  called  them,  and  when  in  after  life  they  used  to 
meet  me,  they  spoke  so  good  of  my  father  and  mother 
that  I  still  cherish  their  memory. 

Supplies  of  most  kinds  were  brought  by  wagon,  but 
game  was  good  and  plenty,  and  some  of  the  men  were 
expert  with  the  rifle.  Deer,  wild  turkeys,  prairie  chick- 
ens and  other  game  were  no  luxury ;  in  the  winter  es- 
pecially many  deer  were  killed  and  brought  home  and 
thrown  upon  the  cabin  roof  until  it  would  be  completely 
covered.  The  river  furnished  an  abundance  of  fish, 
also. 

The  work  went  steadily  on ;  material  was  handy, 
the  level  land  in  front  of  the  mill  site  being  covered 
with  forest,  mostly  oak,  as  was  also  the  whole  of  the 
land  that  afterward  became  the  town  site.  The  saw 
mill  soon  went  up  and  a  deep  ditch  was  dug  where  the 
race  was  to  be,  with  the  correct  idea  that  when  the 
dam  was  built  and  the  water  turned  in,  it  would  soon 
wash  out  a  sufficient  mill  race  through  the  loose  soil. 
The  building  of  the  dam  took  some  time,  but  being  com- 
pleted, the  chug-chug  of  the  saw  soon  woke  the  echoes 
along  the  lonely  Spoon. 


102  HISTORY   AND   REMINISCENCES 

The  next  problem  was  the  building  of  a  grist  mill. 
There  never  having  been  much  money,  the  remainder 
was  getting  painfully  low  and  it  takes  money  to  build 
mills,  but  to  Clark  Stanton  a  little  matter  like  that  was 
of  no  consequence.  The  saw  mill  going  night  and  day 
was  making  something,  and  he  needed  no  master  build- 
er; also,  he  found  a  man  of  money  who  loaned  him 
Fifteen  Hundred  Dollars,  which  was  quite  a  sum  for 
those  days.  I  do  not  remember  this  man's  name  al- 
though I  used  to  know^  it  very  well,  because  of  my 
mother's  worrying  so  much  about  the  debt  and  about 
what  might  happen.  I  came  to  look  upon  the  kindly 
old  man  who  came  around  once  a  year  to  collect  his  in- 
terest, as  a  horrible  ogre  who  was  liable  to  gather 
us  all  up  and  take  us  to  jail  any  minute ;  and  to  add 

to  my  terror,  I  once  heard  my  father  say,  ''Mr.  

will  soon  be  here  and  I  must  have  his  money  ready, 
or  Hell  will  be  to  pay,"  but  my  fears  were  groundless. 
The  mill  went  up.  the  country  filled  with  people  who 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  great  Illinois  of  today. 

About  the  year  1844  my  father's  younger  brother 
Russel  Stanton  came  to  Rochester  from  the  East.  He 
was  a  different  man  in  many  ways :  a  very  good  and 
extremely  pious  man,  but  so  visionary.  He  was  vio- 
lently opposed  to  slavery,  and  in  conjunction  with  some 
fellow  conspirators,  organized  a  line  for  the  purpose 
of  assisting  colored  people  to  Canada.  I  know  he  had 
one  fellow  worker  named  Webster  at  a  place  called 
"Nigger  Point"  near  West  Jersey,  and  another  named 
Boyd,  up  that  way  somewhere ;  together  they  concoct- 
ed a  scheme  to  ruin  the  South  financially,  and  thus 
release  the  bondmen.  It  was  no  less  than  the  manufac- 
ture of  molasses  and  sugar  on  so  large  a  scale  as  to  run 
out  the  southern  planters.  There  was  nothing  known 
of  sorghum  in  those  days.  The  sweetness  was  to  be 
from  the  corn  stalks  crushed  in  the  same  manner  as 
sorghum  now  is.  So  Uncle  Russel  built  the  mill  all 
right  and  it  was  surely  a  good  one.  My  father  tried 
to  argue  him  out  of  his  freakish  notions,  but  unsuc- 
cessfully.    Anyway  the  corn  field  and  the  mill  finally 


COL.  CLARK   W.    STANTON  103 

got  in  conjiinction,  but  I  am  not  sure  that  any  molasses 
■was  the  result,  for  at  that  time  of  my  life  I  absorbed 
a  great  deal  of  molasses  and  if  there  had  been  any 
abundant  quantity,  I  surely  would  have  noticed  it. 
Anywaj^,  the  South  survived  that  blow. 

In  1846  my  old  grandfather  also  named  Clark  Stan- 
ton, accompanied  by  his  fourth  wife  and  a  grandson, 
made  a  visit  to  Illinois,  and  the  East  part  of  the  red 
house  was  arranged  for  their  use.  He  was  very  talka- 
tive, as  is  common  to  the  aged,  and  told  me  many  tales 
of  war  and  also  of  the  revolution  which  he  had  heard 
from  his  mother  and  other  older  persons.  They  stayed 
only  about  a  year,  she  pining  for  children  back  in  York 
State.  Grandfather  said  his  ancestors  first  landed  at 
Saybrook,  in  Connecticut. 

The  mill  was  kept  going  night  and  day  when  there 
was  water  to  run  it.  Good  wheat  was  raised  there  then 
and  teams  were  busy  hauling  flour  to  Peoria  and  goods 
back  for  the  merchants,  but  my  father's  health  began 
to  fail.  The  dam  was  a  constant  trouble,  the  banks 
were  soft  alluvial  soil,  and  the  material  was  mostly 
willow  brush,  quickly  rotting  and  needing  constant 
repair,  floods  sometimes  washing  the  whole  out  and  the 
exposure  and  work  in  the  cold  water  warned  him  to 
quit. 

He  rented  the  mill,  and  in  1849,  a  feeble  man,  he 
started  to  California  by  w^ay  of  New  Orleans.  Arriv- 
ing at  Chagres  he  crossed  the  Isthmus  some  way  and 
at  Panama  took  passage  on  the  English  sailing  vessel, 
•'The  Twin  Sisters,"  it  being  Ilobson's  choice.  The 
ship  was  crowded,  old  and  leaky  and  not  fitted  with 
stores  and  provisions  nor  sufficient  water,  and  com- 
manded by  a  drunken  captain.  The  water  soon  gave 
out  and  the  passengers  rigged  up  a  condenser  to  boil 
sea  water  and  run  the  steam  through  a  pipe  enveloped 
in  cold  water.  Each  passenger  was  rationed  a  pint 
of  water  a  day.  After  baffling  winds  and  long  delay 
they  reached  Acapulco  in  Mexico  and  procured  water, 
but  the  food  was  nothing  but  sea  biscuit,  dry,  hard  and 
wormy.    After  a  crowded,  suffering  voyage  they  made 


104  HISTORY    AND  RlEMINISCENCES 

the  port  of  San  Diego,  and  almost  all  of  the  passengers 
abandoned  the  ship  and  made  their  way  the  best  they 
could  to  Sacramento,  which  was  the  outfitting  point 
to  the  mines.  Here  my  father  found  a  freighter  who 
wished  to  sell  out  and  return  home,  whose  oxen  and 
wagon  he  bought  and  loaded  with  provisions  and  start- 
ed for  the  mines.  Here  he  sold  his  load  to  such  advan- 
tage that  he  continued  in  the  business  for  some  time, 
and  then  tried  mining  with  some  success. 

But  old  Spoon  River  was  calling  all  the  time  and  he 
took  a  sudden  notion  to  go  home,  and  no  sooner  said 
than  done.  Well  do  I  remember  the  cold  winter  night 
when  the  door  flew  open  and  he  was  among  us,  looking 
hale  and  well.  Oh,  but  there  was  a  happy  time  in  the 
old  Red  House  that  night. 

His  good  health  was  only  apparent,  however,  so  he 
resolved  that  his  only  chance  was  to  return  to  Cal- 
ifornia. He  wished  to  close  his  business  and  go  back 
for  good  and  all,  but  he  sank  rapidly  and  died  still  a 
comparatively  young  man  at  the  age  of  51  years.  My 
mother  was  five  years  younger  than  he  and  survived  for 
that  time  and  died  at  the  same  age. 

My  father  was  of  poor  pioneers  and  had  very  little 
book  education,  but  my  mother  was  born  and  raised  in 
the  Genesee  valley  of  forehanded  parents  and  was  well 
educated  for  that  time.  She  said  her  father  strongly 
objected  to  her  marrying  that  ''wandering  blade  of 
poverty,"  but  I  suppose  that  only  hurried  matters  as 
is  usual  in  such  cases. 

Of  the  five  children,  Irena,  the  oldest,  was  lately 
buried  at  Rochester,  where  she  came  with  her  parents 
when  a  little  girl,  the  greater  part  of  a  century  before, 
as  also  Malvina,  two  years  younger,  who  is  buried 
at  Galva,  111. ;  Franklin,  buried  at  Shenandoah,  Iowa. 
The  still  living  are  Chloe  of  Galesburg,  111.,  and  the 
writer,  of  Scandia,  Kansas.  This  closes  a  labor  of  love 
and  I  am  glad  to  cast  even  so  poor  a  wreath  upon  the 
graves  of  my  dear  parents. 


GEORGE  w.  scorr  105 

GEORGE  W.  SCOTT. 
By  Odillon  B.  Slane,  1910. 


About  four  years  before  General  Samuel  Thomas 
platted  and  laid  out  the  Village  of  Wyoming,  and  the 
same  year  that  bullets  for  the  Black  Hawk  War  were 
moulded  in  the  Slane  cabin  at  Ft.  Clark,  Peoria,  there 
was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York  a  man  whose  fu- 
ture life  and  character  as  a  pioneer  was  destined  to 
become  closely  interwoven  with  the  early  history  of 
Peoria  and  Stark  Counties. 

George  Washington  Scott  was  born  July  21,  1832 
at  Fredonia,  Chautauqua  County,  New  York.  His  par- 
ents were  of  Scotch-English  origin.  His  father,  Eph- 
raim  Scott,  Jr.,  was  an  engineer,  and  died  in  1839  at 
Sydney,  Ohio.  His  grandfather.  Captain  Ephraim 
Scott,  a  soldier  of  1812,  commanded  a  company  at 
Buffalo  when  that  post  was  burned.  His  mother,  Lydia 
Sherman,  was  a  daughter  of  Reuben  Sherman,  a  soldier 
of  the  Revolution,  and  a  cousin  of  Roger  Sherman,  one 
of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Mr. 
Scott  has  now  in  his  possession  two  commissions  :  "En- 
sign in  1802"  and  "Captain  in  1806,"  issued  to  his 
grandfather  by  Caleb  Strong,  governor  of  Massachu- 
setts. He  is  a  direct  descendant  from  Isaac  Allerton, 
who  landed  at  Plymouth  in  1620,  which  fact  gives  him 
a  membership  in  the  "Society  of  the  Mayflower." 
George  W.  Scott  is  also  a  member  of  the  "Sons  of  the 
American  Revolution." 

The  subject  of  our  sketch,  with  his  mother,  moved 
to  Peoria  County,  Illinois,  in  1853,  purchased  land  at 
$5.00  per  acre  and  engaged  in  agriculture.  He  and 
his  mother  lived  together  on  Section  3,  Princevillo 
To^\^^ship,  till  her  death  in  1857.  Both  parents  are 
buried  in  the  Princeville  Cemetery. 

His  marriage  to  Mary  C.  Cox  took  place  December 
23,  1858.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Enoch  Cox,  a  native 
of  Virginia,  and  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Stark 
County,  Illinois. 


106  HISTORY    AND   REMINISCENCES 

In  1862  the  subject  of  our  sketch  moved  to  Wyo- 
ming, Illinois,  and  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business. 
In  1870  he  established  the  banking  house  of  Scott  & 
"Wrigley,  which  firm  is  now  classed  among  the  leading 
banking  houses  in  the  state.  That  he  has  been  a  friend 
of  the  church  and  school,  is  evidenced  by  his  services 
on  the  Board  of  Education  for  thirteen  years.  His  life 
has  been  a  busy  and  eventful  one.  He  has  witnessed 
great  changes  in  the  settlement  of  the  great  northwest, 
especially  in  Central  Illinois. 

Ever  a  friend  to  the  cause  of  humanity — to  the 
moral  uplift  of  society,  such  characters  as  his  have  from 
pioneer  times  hewn  the  paths  of  progress  through  the 
eventful  periods  of  our  country's  history. 


THE  STOWELL  FAMILY  OF  LAWN  RIDGE 
By  Calvin  Stowell,  1910. 


To  the  Officers  and  Members  of  the  Old  Settlers  Union 
of  Princeville  and  Vicinity, 

Greeting : 

We  have  been  repeatedly  asked  to  furnish  a  sketch 
of  our  father's  life  in  connection  with  his  pioneer  days 
in  the  early  settlement  of  Illinois.  We  feel  it  to  be 
a  delicate  matter  to  write  of  the  life  of  one,  or  portion 
of  the  life  of  one,  as  close  by  the  ties  of  nature,  as  father 
and  son;  but  we  realize  that  those  of  my  father's  gener- 
ation, and  a  large  proportion  of  those  of  the  generation 
immediately  following,  have  passed  over  the  ''Dark 
River,"  and  so  far  as  I  can  remember,  there  is  no  one 
now  living  that  could  testify  in  regard  to  the  facts  con- 
nected Avith  our  final  move  to  Illinois  in  1843,  aside 
from  the  writer. 

Of  the  incidents  connected  with  his  first  trip  to  Illi- 
nois on  his  exploring  expedition  in  1836,  we  can  only 
give  them  from  memory  as  we  have  heard  talked  over 
again  and  again  at  the  fireside  in  our  childhood  days, 


THE    STOWELL   FAMILY  OF   LAWN   RIDGE  107 

and  often  repeated  in  our  maturer  years.  So  imder 
existing  conditions,  we  should  feel  ourselves  unworthy 
of  the  father  that  begot  us.  and  the  mother  that  bore  us, 
if  we  should  refuse  to  give  any  facts  in  regard  to  those 
pioneer  years  of  hardship  and  heroic  endeavor  and 
endurance  that  would  add  anything  to  the  history 
of  the  early  settlers  of  Illinois,  whose  lives  are  now 
numbered  upon  the  records  of  the  heroic  deeds  of 
the  past. 

In  the  spring  of  1836,  when  my  father,  Ebenezer 
Stowell.  was  twenty-nine  years  of  age,  he  with  his  first 
cousin,  Roswell  Nurse,  and  his  son,  Isaiah  Nurse,  a 
young  man  just  at  his  majority,  packed  their  grips 
with  such  things  only  as  were  absolutely  necessary  for 
health  and  comfort  on  the  road,  and,  with  one  rifle  as 
their  only  weapon,  which  they  carried  turn  about, 
started  from  Bambridge,  Chenango  County,  New  York, 
for  the  much  talked  of  ''Land  of  Promise,"  the  young 
state  of  Illinois. 

Their  plan  was  to  make  the  trip  on  foot  and  to  make 
any  side  explorations  in  going  as  might  be  deemed 
best.  Just  the  route  which  they  took,  we  are  not  able 
to  give,  further  than  this,  that  they  explored  quite  thor- 
oughly much  of  the  country  along  the  Wabash  River 
in  Indiana,  and  then  struck  across  to  Peoria,  Illinois, 
which  was  then  little  more  than  a  village.  From  there, 
they  went  up  the  River  to  Chillicothe,  a  town  of  a 
few  houses  along  the  river  bank.  Here  they  met  Jacob 
Booth,  whom  they  had  known  in  York  State,  who  had 
preceded  them  by  a  length  of  time  unknown  to  us.  We 
have  also  heard  them  speak  of  meeting  J.  H.  McKean, 
now  a  resident  of  Wyoming,  Illinois,  well  past  his 
four-score  and  ten  years.  But  they  had  little  time  for 
visiting;  time  was  precious  and  they  were  there  on 
business. 

Leaving  Chillicothe,  they  went  to  Northampton, 
where  Reuben  Hamlin  had  a  tavern.  Here  they  estab- 
lished headquarters  w^hile  exploring  the  country.  They 
finally  located  timber-land  upon  what  has  since  been 
called   Blue   Ridge,   and  prairie   along  the   south   line 


108  HISTORY   AND   RE-MIXISCEXCES 

of  Marshall  County,  where  Lawn  Ridge  now  stands. 
They  then  took  up  their  line  of  march  for  the  nearest 
land  office,  Quincy,  Illinois,  one  hundred  and  sixt}'' 
miles  distant. 

Having  made  their  entries,  and  secured  their  pat- 
ents, they  returned  to  Hamlin's,  which  they  made  their 
stopping  place  while  they  built  a  small  but  comfortable 
log  house  on  the  exact  spot  where  Isaiah  Nurse  subse- 
quently built  a  good  substantial  home,  now  o^vned  by 
H.  H.  Nurse,  and  occupied  by  his  son.  Game  was 
plentiful  in  those  days  and  in  their  walks  back  and 
forth  to  Hamlin's,  they  often  picked  up  a  turkey  with 
their  trusty  rifle  that  added  materially  to  their  bill 
of  fare. 

It  was  now  getting  well  along  in  the  fall.  The  ob- 
ject of  their  summer's  tramp  accomplished,  it  was  ar- 
ranged that  Isaiah  Nurse  should  remain  and  keep  house 
while  Roswell  Nurse  and  my  father  should  return  to 
the  East  for  their  families.  So  again  the  two  men 
started  on  their  tramp  for  Chicago,  with  a  view  of  ex- 
pediting their  trip  home,  by  taking  a  schooner  to  Buf- 
falo, New  York. 

It  was  now  getting  late  in  the  fall,  and  they  were 
beset  with  high  and  adverse  winds  and  bad  storms, 
often  compelled  to  lie  under  the  lee  of  some  island  for 
days  before  they  could  proceed.  Three  weeks  were 
consumed  in  the  trip  from  Chicago  to  Buffalo,  New 
York.  Here  again  they  took  up  their  line  of  march 
for  their  homes  in  Chenango  County,  about  the  center 
of  the  state  on  the  south  line, — their  long  tramp  fin- 
ished, and  the  work  they  set  out  to  do  fully  accom- 
plished. 

It  was  upon  his  return  from  Illinois  that  I  first 
met  my  father,  my  arrival  having  anticipated  his  by 
a  few  weeks.  While  we  have  no  very  distinct  recollec- 
tion of  the  occasion,  we  think  it  fairly  to  be  presumed 
that  we  met  him  with  the  grace  and  dignity  becoming 

one  of  our  age  and  experience.     And  here  closes  the 

first  chapter  of  the  record. 


THE    STOVVELL   FAMILY  OF  LAWN   RIDGE  109 

The  spring  following  their  return  to  New  York 
State,  Roswell  Nurse  moved  w4th  his  family  to  their 
possessions  in  Illinois.  My  father  being  a  mechanic 
with  plenty  of  work  in  the  East,  and  no  assurance  of 
any  in  his  line  in  the  West,  deferred  moving  his  family 
until  1843,  when,  with  a  good  team  of  mares  attached 
to  a  wagon  with  the  box  set  upon  springs,  our  family, 
then  five  in  number,  started  on  the  long  road  to  our 
future  home,  which  we  reached  in  three  and  one-half 
weeks.  A  young  man  by  the  name  of  John  Champlin 
went  through  with  us,  driving  a  horse  and  buggy  of 
Dr.  Ashed  Wilmot's,  who  moved  to  Illinois  the  same 
spring.  Doctor's  old  Charley  horse  and  sulky  were 
know^n  on  the  road  for  many  years  as  the  Doctor  made 
his  professional  visits. 

Our  journey  was  made  without  incident  or  accident 
worthy  of  note,  but  the  broad  prairies,  as  hour  after 
hour  we  drove  over  them  without  seeing  a  sign  of 
human  habitation,  were  in  strong  contrast  with  the 
same  country  two  and  three  decades  later.  Our  heavy 
goods  father  had  draw^n  to  Olean  Point  in  the  late 
winter  before,  when  they  were  rafted  down  to  the  Ohio 
River  in  charge  of  Uncle  Lyman  Robinson,  who  came 
around  by  water  the  same  spring,  arriving  at  our  des- 
tination some  weeks  ahead  of  us. 

The  next  day  after  our  arrival,  the  goods  were 
stored,  the  family  found  shelter  amongst  the  neighbors, 
and  father  was  in  quest  of  a  saw  mill  which  he  found 
on  the  Senachwine  Creek,  about  two  miles  above  North- 
ampton. Being  a  mill-wright,  he  soon  had  it  in  order, 
and  was  sawing  lumber  for  a  house,  while  Champlin 
with  the  team  and  wagon  w^as  drawing  it  to  the  place 
designated  for  a  building.  In  just  two  weeks  from  the 
time  of  reaching  our  journey's  end,  we  were  under  our 
own  roof,  and  gathered  as  a  family  in  our  owti  hab- 
itation. Crude  and  unfinished  though  it  was,  it  was 
home,  and  life  in  our  new  environment  was  begun,  in 
what  was  then  called  the  ''Little  Blue  Ridge  Settle- 
ment. ' ' 


110  HISTORY   AN'D   REMINISCENCES 

Of  this  little  pioneer  settlement  much  that  would 
be  of  interest  could  be  said,  but  that  would  take  us 
beyond  the  scope  of  this  paper.  That  those  first  years 
in  Illinois  were  both  primitive  in  matters  of  dress  and 
very  plain  in  matters  of  living,  goes  without  saying, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  kind-hearted,  industrious 
Grandma  Will  who  preceded  us  to  Illinois  by  a  few 
years,  and  announced  that  she  had  planted  garden  for 
all  of  the  newcomers,  we  might  have  truly  said  that  our 
living  was  both  plain  in  quality  and  scrimped  in  quan- 
tity ;  for  what  little  cash  came  into  the  treasury  in  those 
early  years,  father  depended  upon  his  trade. 

Being  a  Yankee,  he  considered  a  barn  indispensa- 
ble, and  the  second  year  put  up  a  good  framed  barn, 
enclosed  with  hardwood  lumber  of  his  own  sawing. 
The  example  seemed  contagious,  and  numerous  other 
jobs  of  the  same  kind  were  soon  given  him.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  he  got  several  jobs  in  building  over  and  re- 
pairing both  flouring  mills  and  saw  mills,  one  near 
Princeton,  one  on  Crow  Creek  where  he  took  the  ague 
which  stayed  by  him  for  many  months,  and  was  alto- 
gether more  than  he  bargained  for.  He  also  did  work 
on  the  old  Evans  flouring  mill,  which  many  of  the  old 
settlers  wdll  remember,  located  upon  the  Kickapoo 
Creek  in  Peoria  County. 

Clothing  was  among  the  important  items  to  be  pro- 
vided for,  and  a  flock  of  sheep  was  among  the  first 
things  to  be  looked  after,  the  care  and  preservation 
of  which  in  those  early  days  of  dogs  and  wolves  was 
no  small  item.  The  wool  from  their  backs  was  spun 
into  yarn  and  w^oven  into  cloth  by  my  mother's  deft 
hands,  and  by  her  cut  and  made  into  garments  for  the 
whole  family.  From  her  loom  also  came  many  a  bolt  of 
cloth  for  the  neighbors,  with  all  of  whom,  comfort 
counted  for  everything,  and  mere  style  for  less  than 
nothing.  The  loose  woolen  shirt,  the  jeans  pants,  vest 
and  wampus  was  the  style  for  the  men  and  boys;  and, 
for  the  women,  the  plain  calico  dress  in  summer,  and 
the  woolen  dress  for  winter,  were  the  order  of  the  day. 

The  year  1840  is  approximately  that  of  the  building 


THE    STOWELL  FAMILY  OF  LAWN   RIDGE  111 

of  the  little  brick  school-house  from  which  we  and 
many  others  graduated.  It  was  also  the  church  from 
which  the  circuit  rider  held  forth  once  in  four  weeks. 

Feeling  the  need  of  more  religious  services  in  the 
community,  Dr.  A.  Wilmot,  Nathaniel  Smith  and  father, 
with  their  wives,  organized  a  Congregational  Church 
— not  as  a  rival,  but  as  a  helper — in  maintaining  re- 
ligious services  with  all  that  can  be  implied  in  it.  Owen 
Lovejoy  of  Princeton,  who  afterwards  became  famous 
in  the  nation's  councils,  was  at  the  head  of  the  Council 
of  Organization.  This  church  worked  harmoniously 
with  the  Methodist  people  and  for  the  general  good 
of  all,  until  in  the  process  of  settlement  a  few  years 
later,  service  w^as  moved  to  Lawm  Ridge  where  the 
church  still  stands,  and  has  the  honor  of  being  the 
parent  from  which  the  Congregational  Churches  of 
Stark.  Edelstein  and  Speer  have  sprung. 

It  was  not  our  design  in  writing  this  paper  to  give 
a  biography  of  our  father's  life,  only  a  few  incidents 
in  connection  w^ith  his  pioneer  days,  which  with  his 
optimistic  views  of  life,  were  most  thoroughly  identified 
with  those  of  his  neighbors  in  upholding  all  that  mor- 
ally, socially  and  financially  was  for  the  best  interest 
of  all  concerned ;  and  we  realize  that  we  are  drawing 
out  this  paper  to  great  length,  still  do  not  see  just  where 
to  stop. 

There  is  one  thing  more  due  primarily  to  my  fath- 
er's fore-sight  w^hich  has  become  an  universal  blessing. 
It  was  early  noted  in  the  old  settlement  that  there 
was  but  one  spring  of  absolutely  living  water  in  the 
settlement.  Knowing  that  the  land  Avas  for  sale  and 
that  it  was  liable  to  be  closed  to  the  public,  father  ap- 
proached the  owner  with  the  proposition  to  segregate 
the  spring  from  the  balance  of  the  tract,  and  sell  it  for 
the  benefit  of  the  public.  Having  got  consent  of  the 
owner  to  do  so.  Uncle  Erastus  and  Lucas  Root  joined 
hands  with  him  in  putting  up  the  cash.  The  land  con- 
necting the  spring  with  the  public  highway  was  bought 
and  deeded  to  the  public  forever,  and  it  became  a  ver- 
itable "Jacob's  Well."  There  have  been  times  of  drouth 


113  HISTORY    AND   REMINISCENCES 

when  it  seems  that  both  man  and  beast  would  have 
perished  without  it. 

Amongst  the  sad  events  of  that  early  day  was  the 
death  by  lightning  of  my  Uncle  Nathan  Stowell,  who 
with  my  father  and  brother  was  making  hay  on  the 
prairie,  about  three  miles  from  home.  The  three  were 
standing  together  not  a  yard  from  each  other  when 
a  bolt  of  lightning  struck  Nathan  dead.  My  brother 
Orson  was  also  struck  and  blistered  from  head  to  foot, 
a  spot  on  his  arm  burned  to  the  bone,  and  a  wound 
inflicted  on  his  head  from  which  blood  flowed  freely; 
while,  strange  to  say,  father  did  not  lose  consciousness 
for  a  moment,  was  not  even  knocked  down.  This  Uncle 
with  a  younger  brother  who  died  from  the  effects  of  an 
accident  the  following  winter  were  the  first  two  burials 
in  Blue  Ridge  Cemetery.  My  father  died  in  the  year 
1880  in  his  73rd  year;  my  mother  in  1889  in  her  81st 
year. 

We  feel  that  we  cannot  close  this  sketch  without  a 
word  in  a  general  way  for  the  old  neighbors  of  pioneer 
days  with  whom  we  were  closely  associated  for  many 
years.  Fraternity  and  reciprocity  were  characteristic 
of  them  as  a  whole ;  not  that  they  always  saw  ' '  eye 
to  eye,"  for  they  were  all  human;  but  in  no  case  did 
their  petty  differences  withhold  the  helping  hand  in 
the  day  of  affliction,  and  be  it  said  to  their  credit  that 
such  a  thing  as  a  law  suit  was  never  known  within  our 
recollection  of  more  than  sixty-five  years. 

In  looking  back  over  the  record  of  those  in  and 
around  the  old  settlement  as  early  as  1846,  we  can 
count  the  graves  of  at  least  twelve  fathers  and  mothers 
who  rest  side  by  side  in  the  little  settlement  cemetery. 

Within  a  half  mile  of  our  old  home.  Ave  wooed  and 
wed  the  faithful  wife  who  has  walked  bv  our  side 
for  forty-six  years.  Here  our  first  child  was  born. 
Here,  when  the  curtain  falls,  we  expect  to  be  our  final 
resting  place  amongst  the  old  neighbors,  kindred  and 
friends  we  knew  so  long  and  well. 

Sincerely,  CALVIN  STOWELL, 

402  E.  Henry  Street,  Savannah,  Ga. 


THE   MCGINNIS  FAMILY  113 


THE  MeGINNlS  FAMILY. 
By  Geo.  I.  McGinnis,  1910. 


George  I.  McGinnis,  son  of  James  and  Temperance 
McGinnis,  was  born  in  Granger  County,  Tenn.,  Sept.  15, 
1802.  At  the  age  of  about  nine  years  he  moved  with  his 
parents  to  Ohio,  settling  near  Cincinnati.  After  re- 
maining there  a  few  years,  he  moved  to  Park  County, 
Indiana,  where  on  January  1,  1829,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Sarah  J.  Montgomery,  daughter  of  John 
and  Elizabeth  Montgomery.  She  was  born  in  Russell 
County,  Virginia,  Sept.  20,  1812.  When  about  nine 
years  of  age  she  had  moved  with  her  parents  to  Ken- 
tucky. After  remaining  there  a  few  years,  they  moved 
to  the  East  side  of  Indiana,  thence  to  Park  County, 
Indiana. 

The  newly  married  couple,  first  remaining  in  Park 
County  about  five  years  after  their  marriage,  then 
moved  to  Peoria  County,  Illinois.  They  settled  about 
a  mile  and  a  quarter  northeast  of  where  the  Village 
of  Princeville  now  stands,  on  the  South  half  of  the 
Southwest  quarter  of  Section  Seven,  in  what  is  now 
Akron  Township. 

Here  they  remained  about  three  years,  when  they 
moved  onto  the  North  half  of  said  quarter  section, 
which  they  made  their  permanent  home.  They  were 
the  parents  of  twelve  children,  in  order  as  follows : 
Susan,  deceased ;  Sarah  Ann,  died  in  Indiana ;  John 
deceased ;  Nancy,  deceased ;  James,  Mary,  Elizabeth ; 
Temperance,  deceased ;  Jane ;  William,  deceased ; 
George,  and  Charles,  deceased.  Temperance  was  the 
first  person  buried  in  the  Princeville  Cemetery.  She 
died  on  the  evening  of  Sept.  14,  1844.  The  next  day, 
the  15th,  the  now  venerable  John  Z.  Slane  dug  the 
grave.  He  was  a  lad  then  seventeen  years  of  age. 
The  funeral  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Breese  in  the 
grove  Southeast  of  the  old  log  schoolhouse,  there  being 
no  church  building  in  the  village  at  that  time.     Her 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Andrews,  Mrs.  Sarah  B.,  Letter 63 

Armstrong  Family 70 

Belford  Family 51 

Blanchard,  William  P.,  Family 10 

Bliss,  Henry,  Family 114 

Breese,  Rev.  Robt.  Finley,  and  Family 54 

Cameron,  Rev.  Robt.,  and  daughter  Miss  Agnes 56 

Chase,  Simon  P.,  and  Family 47 

Cornwell  Family 49 

Debord  Family 58 

Early  Indian  Life  at  Rochester • 94 

Fourth  of  July  Celebration,  Princeville,  1844 61 

French,  Stephen 8 

Houston,  William,  and  Family 46 

McGinnis  Family 113 

McKown,  Lawrence,  Family 76 

M.  E.  Church,  History  of 88 

Miller,  Christian,  Family 65 

Moody  Family 41 

Moody,  Ethan,  Letters 43 

Morrow  Family 15 

Mott  Family 68 

Presbyterian  Church,  Historical  Sketch  of 80 

Presbyterian  Church,  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary 79 

Pioneers  of  Millbrook  Township 99 

Prince,    Daniel 5 

Rochester,  Early  Indian  Life  at 61 

Scott,  Geo.  W.,  of  Wyoming 105 

Slane  Family 20 

Sloan   Family 14 

Smith,  John,  Family,  of  Northwest  Princeville 16 

Stanton,  Col.  Clark  W 100 

Stevens,  Wm.  C,  the  Founder  of  Princeville 25 

Stevens,  Wm.  C,  Letter  written  by  him 37 

Stevens,  Wm.  C,  Reminiscences 39 

Stewart   Family • 98 

Stowell  Family  of  Lawn  Ridge 106 


EDW.  HINE  &  CO. 

PRINTERS, 

PEORIA,  ILL. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 

Sy  AND  REMIN.SCEn'cES,  FROM  THE  RECO 


3  0112  025392645 


